#and i've always been really interested in her despite how little we know and hear

[sergeantxrogers]

in the red dark

His eyes trapped yours in their vice-like grip as he stared up at you, fingers brushing against the hem of your jeans, and you swallowed heavily. You felt the rush of alcohol in your head fizzle out into smoke and embers as you sobered up quicker than you ever have in your life.

"Are you sure?"

You swallowed again. Nodded.

There was a small twitch in his eyebrows, and he narrowed his gaze. "It'll hurt."

Despite your heartbeat drowning out all sounds around you, despite the cold sweat on the back of your neck, despite the knowledge that you'll probably regret this - whatever this actually was - in the morning, you smiled.

"Then I guess I'll just have to hold your hand."

Pairing: Tattoo artist!Bucky Barnes x reader

Word count: 5.8k

Warnings: Alcohol consumption, reader is drunk (i apologise if that's not your thing), swearing, perhaps some sexual tension, mentions of pain, needles, tattoos, lots of love-at-first-prick energy, mentions of smoking/cigarettes

Author's note: You guys it's literally embarrassing how badly i've fallen off... LMAO i missed writing sooo so much but life has really got me by the balls these past few months. I hope y'all enjoy this and let me know if you'd be interested in a part two. Love u <3

__________

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

You didn't know if it was your heartbeat pulsing in your head, or the heavy beat of the music washing over your senses and travelling through your veins. You couldn't tell, but you truly didn't really care. Right now, your hazy, gin-and-tonic drunken eyes focused only on Wanda, her red hair reflecting the neon club lights, your gaze zeroing in on her lips mouthing the words to a song you couldn't even hear at this point.

You saw her smile, and, as if in reply, your lips tugged into a grin of their own. A wave of heat rolled over you as you danced with Natasha, and you brought up your hand that wasn't holding a glass of something that had begun to taste like water to fan yourself.

You felt, more than heard, Natasha yell into your ear, and you furrowed your brows, turning your eyes from Wanda to meet her gaze.

"What?" you yelled back, confusion marring your features. You saw Nat's shoulders rise and fall with the enormous sigh she took in, and you kept in your giggles.

She tugged on your arm, then pointed to the crowd behind you. More specifically, the exit that was on the other side of the club, blocked by hundreds of hot, sweaty, drunk bodies in their own little worlds - much like you were now. It clicked; you had been in the club drinking your asses off the past three hours, you were hot, your heels were killing you, and, quite frankly, you were running out of money for the night.

You nodded deeply and seriously, eyes screwed shut as Nat tugged Wanda's arm with one hand and yours with the other. Quickly, you downed the rest of the contents of your glass, leaving behind only a thin slice of lemon and a lipstick stain on the rim and snatched your bag off the table before the three of you decided to brave the large crowd that only seemed to grow bigger by the minute.

Holding hands and forming a sort of train, you made it through the suffocating crowd step by step, breath by breath, until, finally, you felt the cool late summer air caress your flushed face, the thumping bass of the club now seeming like a whole different dimension as the heavy door shut behind you with a click.

Wanda, perpetually happy, you've come to understand over the years, let out a raspy laugh.

"This place is fucking insane, guys! Holy shit!" she exclaimed, pointing a manicured finger at the door the three of you had just come through.

You hummed in agreement. "Yeah, why haven't we ever gone here before?"

Natasha, almost always the least drunk out of you three, let out a trademark sigh. She gave you a look you could only translate to 'seriously?'.

"What? I'm being for real," you frowned.

Nat rolled her eyes, then winced as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I know you are, it's just that we've never come here before because this was opening night. You know, the whole reason we even came in the first place? Jesus Christ, you two need some water."

All it took was for you and Wanda to share a look before you both burst out laughing. You leaned on her arm for support as your giggles died down, and you let out a big, happy sigh.

"Come on, we'll never grab a cab here - there's way too many people. Let's walk a couple blocks down," Nat said, stepping between the two of you and throwing her arms around your shoulders. "Can't believe I always get babysitting duty."

You and Wanda smiled coyly, seeing the playfulness glimmering in Natasha's eyes, letting you know she wasn't actually upset.

The three of you started your trek, slightly stumbling but keeping in a straight line for the most part. You had only walked about 150 feet when Wanda let out a gasp. You and Natasha both turned your heads to see what she was pointing so happily at, and when you saw what had made her gasp, you cocked your head in amusement.

Red neon light flooded your hazy vision, one word flickering and buzzing above your head in the dark - tattoo.

"It says they're open 24/7. Isn't that weird? Do you guys think we should all get matching tattoos? What should we get? Wait, do you think we even have enough money to get matching tattoos?"

Disappointment flooded Wanda's rambling, and you opened your mouth to reply, but Nat beat you to it.

"Wanda, we are not getting matching tattoos, especially not while drunk."

Staring at the sign above you, the red neon washing over the world, the soft buzz of electricity coming from it drowned out Wanda's complaining and Natasha's replies. They became background noise as you let the waves of alcohol make the decision for you, surprising even yourself when the words came out of your mouth.

"I want one."

Your two friends stopped their bickering and both stared at you, Nat with an incredulous look on her face, and Wanda with something a little more akin to amusement.

"Really?" they said at the same time, their tones matching their faces.

You nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I feel like never do anything fun. Besides, what's the harm in it? It won't kill me," you said with a shrug.

Natasha's weary eyes gave you a once over, and she took a step toward you, putting a hand up to your forehead.

"Are you sure you don't have alcohol poisoning or something?"

You slapped her hand away with a roll of your eyes. "I'm fine, Nat, I just really wanna get a tattoo now. I already know what I want to get."

Even Wanda, whose idea it was in the first place, gave you a suspicious hum. "Nat's only asking because this really doesn't seem like you, Y/N."

The frustration bubbled in your chest before you could stop it, and you quickly shoved it down. They were right, after all - you were the type of person to never make any decision, big or small, without planning for it in advance and double, and then triple, checking you were absolutely certain. Everybody knew this, which was why your friends were doubtful.

Everyone knew this, yet no one knew how draining it was to always be on top of things. Nobody knew how exhausting to always plan everything out in advance to minimize the risk of anything going wrong as much as you could. School, college, dating, the things you ate, the places you went, the clothes you wore - everything was planned ahead, and, quite frankly, you were growing sick of it. Sick of yourself, almost.

With a huff, and a roll of your shoulders, you tugged your jeans up and lifted your chin. Then, without a word or warning, you turned on your high heel and pushed open the heavy glass door of the tattoo parlor, the bell over your head chiming softly as you walked through.

There's no going back now, a voice called in your head. You blocked it out. Good.

___________

Leg crossed over the other, you fidgeted with the rips in your jeans as you sat in the black, plastic chair in the front of the shop. After speaking to a girl who looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but at work, she told the three of you to have a seat and wait a couple minutes while they got everything set up. She popped her gum as she left, and only in the sudden silence, surrounded by dark walls and miscellaneous photographs adorning them, the nervous flutter in your stomach awoke, sending a cold sweat to your palms.

So, here you were, almost two in the morning sitting between your two best friends, mentally preparing yourself to get a tattoo you didn't even know you wanted a couple of hours ago. Yet, no matter how nervous you were, there was still a bigger part of you, a louder voice in your head encouraging you that this was exactly what you wanted and needed. The seconds ticking by on the clock above you only further reassured you.

A warm palm on your ankle startled you out of your thoughts, and you turned to see Nat, holding your gaze.

"Could you please stop jiggling your foot. You're making me nervous and I'm not even getting anything done."

You gave her a slight nod. "Yeah - yeah, sorry."

You hadn't even realized you were doing it, but it was a nervous tick of yours, a habit that you were never going to break. You turned your head to your other side, and Wanda's mischievous glint in her eyes made you shoot her a smile, growing your confidence by a little.

The soft chime of beads being separated made the three of you turn your focus to the doorway set in the left wall, the same unamused girl from before stepping through before gesturing for you to stand up.

"He's ready for you now."

"He? You're not gonna be the one tattooing me?" you asked nervously, your steps faltering slightly across the black-and-white tiled floor, and you hoped it wasn't too noticeable.

The girl shook her head. "Nope, I'm only here on an apprenticeship. I mainly just work the front desk and do other assistant-like bullshit for Barnes."

"Oh." You didn't know who Barnes was, but you could only assume he was the artist waiting for you behind the beaded curtain.

"Also, your girlfriends have to stay here. It's salon policy, sorry."

You turned back just in time to see Nat and Wanda lower themselves back in their seats, the three of you exchanging a look that showed you didn't believe she was sorry in the least.

"Okay. So, I just... walk through here?" you asked, pointing at the doorway.

The girl nodded, bored out of her mind already. "Yeah, there are two rooms. Go for the left one."

And that was apparently all you were getting out of her, because she turned around and walked away, taking a seat behind the large reception desk with a heavy sigh.

Taking one last look at your friends' reassuring smiles, Wanda sending you an enthusiastic thumbs up, you walked through the curtain with a deep breath. The beads drifted over your shoulders and thighs, then quietly fell back into place behind you as you stepped into the small dark hallway. Go for the left one, she said, so you did, forcing your feet to move forward, heels softly clicking against the tiles.

Oddly enough, the doorway on the left was bare, no door on the hinges and no beaded curtain hanging down, so you knocked on the frame and hesitantly stepped through. You were surprised to find the interior design completely different to the front of the salon - even the small hallway you left behind was dark and depressing, while this part of the shop had rich, shiny hardwood floors, a floor lamp standing in every corner washing the room in an orange hue.

You noticed the walls had less pictures than the ones in the front, but the ones that were hanging were big, framed, and beautiful.

"My buddy Steve painted those," a smooth voice called out, startling you, and you ripped your eyes from the paintings on the walls, not realizing how rude you were being just standing there without saying a word.

Your gaze quickly scanned the room until you found the source of the voice standing at the back of the room, leaning back against a table with his arms crossed over his chest. Whatever words you were planning on saying died in your throat as you took him in. Dark hair, cropped shorter on the sides. Blue eyes underneath heavy-set brows, the bridge of his nose leading down to pink lips that were currently morphing into an amused smile. The stubble on his cheeks and jaw moved as he clenched his teeth, and you weren't sure if it was the alcohol in your veins speaking its mind, but you were pretty certain this had to be the most gorgeous man you had ever laid eyes on.

"He - he's good," you managed to reply, and he lifted a brow.

"Your friend, I mean - seems like a great painter," you elaborated, gesturing weakly to the wall of canvases. He nodded in agreement, then pushed himself off the table he was leaning against, taking a few steps forward.

"You can lay down now if you want. It might be more comfortable than just standing there while we talk about what we're doing tonight," he said, nodding toward the black massage chair in the center of the room.

You nodded back, willing your ankles to keep steady in your now frustratingly high shoes, along with the gin still pulsing steadily in your head. You may have been even more nervous than you were now if it hadn't been for all the glasses you drank one after another earlier in the night. Right now, you were actually thankful you weren't completely sober for this, because you didn't know how else you would be able to handle the man's sea-blue stare that tracked your every movement as you lied down with such an intensity it made your cheeks burn.

Evidently, he must have noticed your jitters, because he pulled out a small leather stool on wheels and took a seat next to you. He softened his gaze and crossed his arms again. You couldn't help but noticed how peculiar they were - for no reason other than the fact that the short, tight sleeves allowed you to see they were completely bare, not one tattoo in sight on his perfect skin. Weird. Maybe he had tattoos in places you couldn't see, but before you could think too deeply on that and risk blushing again, you ripped your eyes back up to his.

"I'm Bucky," was all he said, voice now quieter and more laid-back, probably trying to help ease your nerves even more.

"I'm Y/N," you replied, then cleared your throat.

"I'm assuming this is your first ever tattoo?" he asked, and you winced a bit.

"It's that obvious?"

He - Bucky - gave you a small smile. "Kind of. But you also don't seem like the type of person to get a drunk tattoo at-" he checked the watch on his wrist "-1:52 a.m."

Check and mate. You gave a small shrug. "I guess people can be surprising."

He said nothing to that, only regarded you with a faint amusement in his narrowed eyes, before clearing his throat.

"And what did you have in mind? Kate up front told me you wanted a butterfly, but I need to know if you had something specific in mind?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping to leave the details up to you... I just know I want a butterfly, that's all.

"So, you're putting your trust in me completely, I see."

You felt your heartbeat trip over itself and you cleared your throat, nodding meakly.

"You know," he began as he stood and walked over to the table he was leaning on earlier, "butterflies symbolize transformation, and hope. Metamorphosis. Some also say they symbolize resurrection - triumph of soul over body."

Bucky spoke as he walked back, carrying a few papers and a box of gloves with him. He set the box down on the small table beside your chair, then handed you the papers.

"These are just a few sketches I did when Kate told me what you wanted, but I wasn't sure how big or small you wanted it to be, or where you wanted it to go, so there's a few options you could choose from."

You flipped through the pages, sketch after sketch filling your eyesight, and your breath stilled in your chest. These drawings were absolutely beautiful. Apparently, his buddy Steve wasn't the only one who was insanely talented. Your gaze snagged on one of the last sketches, a small monarch butterfly about the size of a silver dollar, gorgeous patterns covering its spread wings.

Bucky noticed you go still, and tilted his head.

"This one?" he asked. You simply nodded.

"Alright," he said softly. "Let me just prep the stencil and we'll be all set."

Focusing on keeping your breathing steady, in and out, you watched him get up and walk back towards the table. You took the time to admire the strong build of his back, shoulder blades visible under the tight material, triceps slightly flexing as he moved his arms, doing what ever he needed to do. The drinks in your system were doing little to help. In fact, they were just making it worse, sending flashes of heat flooding through your stomach and warming your body as you stared at him.

Sooner rather than later, he turned back around and you quickly tore your eyes away, not wanting to be caught staring, and instead focused your gaze on your painted toenails in your black heels. You clicked your shoes together a couple times, maybe out of nerves, maybe just for something to do, and Bucky sat back down on his stool.

"Alright, doll. Where's this bad boy going?"

You tried not to be so obvious with the way the name affected you, but the way it slipped off his tongue so easily, like it belonged there, had your hands sweating and breath quickening. You swallowed.

"M-my hip. I was thinking my hip."

Bucky cocked a dark brow. "Your hip."

The way he said it, not a question, but rather a statement, voice an octave lower than it was a moment ago, had you reminding yourself to keep breathing.

You nodded. His eyes flickered down to the aforementioned body part, then slowly made their way up, over your stomach and across your chest covered in a lacy top, across your neck, then finally met yours. This time, he was the one who swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing as he reciprocated your nod.

"Okay. Okay, that's good. That's a cool spot," he said, and then cleared his throat. "I'm, uh, I'm gonna need you to - to unbutton your jeans. So I can, you know, place the stencil and - and ink you, and stuff."

Your lips quirked up, finding it amusing how flustered he seemed to get now, instead of the other way around. A rush of confidence overtook you, whether it was from his stammered words, or the way his eyes had travelled your torso, or maybe it was simply your inebriation. It could have been all three. Whatever it was, it had you staring into his eyes as your hands found the button of your jeans, undoing it and pulling the zipper down, then pulling one side of them down, folding it over itself so your underwear was on display.

Bucky's eyes tracked the movements, darkening when he lifted them back up to yours, and his jaw visibly clenched. You let out a loose breath through your nose and bit your tongue.

The silence between you two felt stretched taught and thin, palpable and ready to shatter at any moment as you stared at each other. He cleared his throat again.

"Would you mind if I smoke?" he asked, voice rough and resigned. You shook your head.

Pulling out a pack of Marlboro Reds and a lighter from his pocket, you watched, slightly fascinated, as he pulled a cigarette out from the pack, brought it to his pink lips, struck the lighter and lit it, inhaling deeply. The smoke he blew from his mouth surrounded you, filling the air with a new, hazy tension. He kept eye contact as he threw his cigarettes and the lighter onto the small table, and pulled his stool closer.

He leaned down over your hip, then hesitated. Flicking his eyes up to yours, brows raised in question, you nodded.

Bucky's fingers softly, slowly, grabbed the hem of your underwear and pulled it down a couple of inches, and when his fingertips brushed the delicate skin there, you felt a rush of fire burst through you, starting from the place of contact and going straight to your head. You tried focusing on breathing evenly, but that was difficult to do as you watched him reach behind and pull two black, latex gloves from the box he had brought earlier, pulling them on while studying the small expanse of skin he had exposed.

Your head swam, vision going in and out as you watched him carefully place the stencil he had made against your skin, adjusting it with one hand, pulling your underwear and jeans down with the other so they would stay out of the way. The cigarette dangled from his plump lips, and he pulled it out of his mouth, let smoke leave through his nose as he turned and set it against an ash tray.

He nodded toward the stencil. "Is this placement okay?"

You glanced down, seeing the fine, purple outline of the butterfly you chose on your hipbone, and you nodded. You couldn't help the small smile that reached your lips - it looked amazing already.

"Alright, doll," Bucky said, then carefully peeled the paper back, leaving just the drawing and goosebumps on your skin.

He stared at it for a moment, then frowned.

"What's wrong?" you asked, immediately worried.

"Nothing's wrong, exactly, I just don't think I can ink you in this position. The angle is awkward and the skin isn't tight enough so it might not end up the way you want it to."

"Oh," you said, the frowned yourself. "Well, what would work better?"

He gave a short shrug. "It would be best if you were standing, honestly."

Your mouth parted, but no breath escaped, and you nodded slightly. "Yeah. Okay."

The words came out quiet and breathy, and you hoped he couldn't notice the slight tremble in your arms as you lifted yourself out of the chair and to your feet beside him. Your underwear and jeans rode back up as you did, and you frowned, wondering if you chose a place that was too impractical.

Bucky, either noticing your frown, or noticing where your attention was, rolled his stool closer to you. Looking up at you, his hands reached up with slow, deliberate movements, a question in his eyes. You bit your lip, nodding, and turned to face him completely, standing between his legs, thighs enclosing your own.

You held your breath as his fingers pulled the front of your jeans down, exposing both hips and the front of your panties, and he paused, holding your gaze. You gave him no sign to stop, so he reached for the hem of your underwear again, pulling it down even more this time, exposing not only your hip, but your upper pubic area as well.

His eyes flickered to the skin there, quickly, then back up to yours, and you watched his throat bob as he swallowed. The cigarette was burning out in the ash tray, long forgotten but filling the air with wisps of smoke and the smell of ash.

Somewhere in the back of your mind, you couldn't help but feel like the way you were exposed in front of him, lips inches from a place you'd like him to be, the way he was staring into your eyes, pupils dilated and intoxicating - it may have all been just a touch unprofessional. You shooed the thought away when his gloved fingers traced the stenciled out butterfly, and goosebumps rose on your skin again, stomach clenching involuntarily at the touch.

His eyes trapped yours in their vice-like grip as he stared up at you, fingers brushing against the hem of your jeans, and you swallowed heavily. You felt the rush of alcohol in your head fizzle out into smoke and embers as you sobered up quicker than you ever have in your life.

"Are you sure?"

You swallowed again. Nodded.

There was a small twitch in his eyebrows, and he narrowed his gaze. "It'll hurt."

Despite your heartbeat drowning out all sounds around you, despite the cold sweat on the back of your neck, despite the knowledge that you'll probably regret this - whatever this actually was - in the morning, you smiled.

"Then I guess I'll just have to hold your hand."

Bucky gave you a sly smile, and shook his head, almost to himself, sucking in a deep breath before rolling back to grab the tattoo gun from the table. He moved the machine slightly closer so it had better reach, and you shifted on your feet nervously. At this point, you were more focused on the incoming pain than the pain already killing your heels and toes in your shoes.

"This is an area that usually doesn't hurt as much as others, but you'll still feel some discomfort," he told you as he fiddled with the machine and the gun, flicking it to life. The quiet buzzing filled the air, and you sucked in a sharp breath even though you nodded at his words.

He lifted his head to look at you, reaching a hand up to grab your other hip steady. "It'll feel like a buzz under your skin, or a slight stinging. If it gets too much for you, just squeeze my hand and I'll stop. I promise."

You made yourself look deep into his eyes and you noted the reassurance in them, so you let out the breath you didn't know you were holding and nodded, screwing your eyes shut.

His grip on you tightened, and it was a mild comfort as he pressed the needle into your skin, inking the first few drops into your hip. The pain wasn't excruciating, nor was it unbearable, but it was surprising, and like nothing you had ever felt before. You let out a soft gasp as he worked, trying to keep still so as not to disturb him, but you couldn't help your hand that shot out to grab his wrist - the one on your hip. He paused and turned his focus up to you, tender worry in his blue eyes.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?"

You clenched your jaw and nodded. "Just keep going, it's not that bad."

After a few more minutes, you seemed to get used to the stinging sensation, and now the area just felt numb. You had asked Bucky about it, but he smiled and reassured you that it was perfectly normal.

Your senses blurred together and you closed your eyes against all the stimulants - the smell of smoke still hanging in the air, the buzzing of the tattoo gun, the numbness in your hip, Bucky's firm hold on you and the strength of his wrist flexing beneath the palm of your hand.

You kept reminding yourself to breath, to focus on something else - anything other than the needle currently piercing your skin.

Bucky's fingers gave you a light squeeze, and you nearly trembled.

"Just a little more, doll, that's it. You're doing so good for me, you know that?" Bucky muttered softly, his breath warm against your bare skin, and you nodded even though he couldn't see.

"Just a few more seconds and we'll be all done, sweetheart, I promise."

"Okay," you whispered breathily and turned your gaze up towards the paneled ceiling.

"All done, doll," Bucky said, voice bringing your focus back to him. He switched the gun off and rolled back in his chair slightly to put it back where it belonged. He plucked a bottle of something off the table and grabbed a paper towel.

"This is just some antibacterial soap I'm gonna use to clean the ink residue off you, okay?"

It was all you could do to nod in response, and you watched him move as he cleaned the tattoo, then wiped it down carefully. You winced, and he frowned.

Bucky put the soap back and grabbed another similar-looking bottle.

"This is just lotion - it'll help soothe any lingering pain."

You stared in mute fascination as he spread the lotion across your hip, rubbing it in gently, then running his thumb across the fresh design. Your breath stuttered, and he tore his eyes away from the butterfly, clearing his throat. Once again, he turned back, putting the lotion in its place, then pulled out a box of large bandages from the lower part of the table, picking one up and peeling it open.

He pressed it softly against your tattoo, then made sure it was stuck on right, giving the area a soft stroke with his thumb again, and then he ripped his gloves off, throwing them in the trash beneath the table.

Bucky's attention finally, finally turned back to you, and he rolled himself into his initial position. His hands skimmed the sides of your thighs softly before they reached your panties, pulling them up and over the fresh tattoo. You held your breath when his knuckles brushed your lower stomach, and you could've sworn you heard him inhale sharply. A muscle in his jaw fluttered and he pulled your jeans back up too, zipping and buttoning them slowly.

He kept his stare straight, eyes on the button right in front of him, an you let out a slow, deep breath when his hands lowered from your hips, to the backs of your thighs, caressing them gently, even giving them a short squeeze.

"Did it hurt?" he asked, voice a raspy whisper.

You shook your head, eyes trained on him. "No."

He looked up then, and you felt your pulse pick up pace. You didn't know what to focus on - his eyes burning holes into yours, his hands gripping the backs of your thighs, or the fact that his face was inches away from your abdomen, breath heating it with every exhale.

"Good," he said simply. Quietly. "It'll heal in about two to three weeks, but you should avoid getting it wet and change the bandage as often as you can."

"M-maybe you could - give me your number," you stammered, and Bucky lifted his brows. "You know, so I can call if I notice something off, or - or if I need help with something."

He smiled, and this smile wasn't like any of the previous smiles. This one was a full-on grin, perfect teeth and dimples on display, making him look younger. You couldn't lie and say it wasn't one of the most beautiful sights you had ever seen.

"Okay," he said quietly. "I'll give you my number, but I want to be updated every day. It is your first tat, after all."

You grinned and nodded. "Alright. Deal."

"You're gonna walk out and pay Kate up front, and then I'll follow, as soon as I clean up here. 'Kay?"

You nodded.

"Good girl," he said, shooting a wave of heat through your body, and he gave your thighs a light slap before he rolled away.

The lack of his presence in your personal space felt jarring, like you had just been ripped away from the world and thrown into another, and you blinked the feeling away, sucking in a deep breath.

"Okay," you said, more to yourself than to him, and he smiled at you.

"Go. I promise I'll be out in a minute."

__________

Kate handed you your card back, and you were still trying to shake the shock of hearing the price off when the beaded curtain shuffled and Bucky came through in all his marvelous glory. Out here, in the open space of the front of the shop, he looked even taller, even wider, and you suppressed the urge to reach out a hand and touch him.

"Hey doll. Can't believe you didn't run away," he said with a half-smile, and you blew some air through your nose.

"Of course I didn't," you replied softly, then cleared your throat.

He held his hand out expectantly, and it took you a moment to realize what he was waiting for. "Oh! Right, sorry."

You tugged your phone out of your purse, unlocking it and handing it to him. You admired the way the screen lit up his face as his fingers flew across it, and before you knew it, he was handing the phone back to you with a smile.

He took a step forward, and you inhaled sharply.

"Remember, daily," he muttered, low enough only for you to hear, inches away from your face, and you could only nod.

"I promise," you whispered, and his smile grew.

Someone cleared their throat behind you, and that made you tear your eyes away from Bucky's. Nat and Wanda were both standing by the exit, hands on their hips, staring between you and Bucky expectantly.

"Right, we'll just be going now," you said, trying to hide the surprising disappointment in your voice as you gestured with your head to the door. "Thank you for everything. I love it."

Bucky slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans and gave you a genuine smile. "The pleasure was all mine, sweetheart."

You held his eyes even as Nat grabbed your arm and dragged you through the door, the bell chiming and tinkling above you, and Wanda called out a goodbye over her shoulder as the three of you left.

The cool night air enveloped you completely, and at this point, you were sober enough to feel a chill trickle through your bones. You shuddered.

"Jeez, what time is it, anyways," you mumbled, rubbing your arms to gather some warmth. You paused your movements when you noticed the looks on your friends' faces.

"What? What happened?"

Nat scoffed. "What happened? What happened with you? In there! With that beefcake of a man!"

Wanda chimed in excitedly. "The way he was looking at you? Phew, it was growing way too hot in there, to be honest."

You blushed, rolling your eyes, and began walking. "C'mon, guys, don't be childish-"

"Are you gonna go out with him?" Nat interrupted, linking an arm through yours.

"He hasn't asked me," you said blankly.

"Well, he definitely will," Wanda said with a matter-of-fact shrug. "I could see it in his eyes."

"Who would've thought - Y/N getting her groove on with the tattoo artist-"

"Ew, groove? Seriously, Natasha, who says things like that-"

"Stop trying to act like we're not totally right here."

You sighed and shook your head, but couldn't help the smile that rose to the surface. "Yeah, he is pretty hot."

The three of you burst into a fit of giggles as you walked, trying to find a taxi to hail before you froze your asses off.

"So... can we see the tat?"

[yazthebookish]

This might be a bit long but the Gwynriel Reddit thread inspired me to let my thoughts flow about Gwyn and Azriel.

P.s. this will include some HOFAS spoilers.

I've said this before but SJM choosing to end Azriel's chapter with Gwyn is a choice. It's the beginnings and the endings of a chapter that authors tend to put a lot of thought into—so her ending the chapter which felt like her nudging readers' to Gwyn's direction is intentional.

Gwyn was not just a random addition, given their interactions throughout ACOSF their scene in the bonus chapter didn't feel out of place (even if readers' didn't expect to see her in it).

People try to invalidate the bonus chapter as much as they can but HOFAS had proved once again that they are important and canon (though I do think SJM and her publisher need to include these in the main books because they are crucial).

"You depend so much on a bonus chapter that a lot of readers don't have access to"

True but that doesn't mean the next book can't fill in the blanks because Azriel and Gwyn were already interacting in ACOSF, so having that romantic development in the next book (and the possible reveal that they're mates) + ON PAGE will still make it up for the readers that never read the bonus chapter. Like, CC4 will definitely bring up the fact that Ruhn and Lidia got married (despite it happening in a bonus).

I always considered the bonus chapter as a teaser for what will happen in the next book, Sarah confirmed she sprinkled little crumbs and I quote "I want to hear all your theories after you read the book and his [Azriel's] bonus scene, the crumbs have all been scattered, little bread crumbs everywhere" and it will keep readers guessing until the next book is out. So you won't know for sure how relevant or significant the bonus chapter is and the crumbs she scattered until you read the next book.

With that being said, Gwyn's cameo in the bonus chapter didn't come without some interesting clues: Azriel's shadows didn't warn him she was around, they were curious about her and she smiled at them, they danced and sang around her, Azriel revealed he sings because she asked, she thanked him with a smile and he felt settled even his shadows calmed.

We never saw his shadows react to anyone the way they did with Gwyn. They seem drawn to her, they danced, they sang, and while there are many theories about it but I absolutely do think if the shadows would be drawn to someone it would be Azriel's mate.

"Azriel and Gwyn had no romantic development and he didn't think about kissing her and all that"

But did every SJM couple start that way? No. And someone expressing the desire to kiss and hook up with someone is not always an indication of endgame (I can count multiple couples who kissed but weren't endgame).

The crumbs we had of them in ACOSF sets the groundwork for a romantic relationship to build in the next book—because who doesn't want to read about them both falling in love on page?

And yes, Sarah is capable of writing a love story from scratch in a single book (e.g., Tower of Dawn). Another example is how ACOMAF started with Feyre being in love with Tamlin and halfway through she started to really fall in love with Rhys.

The whole Azriel/Elain/Lucien triangle is messy as it is, so I don't think SJM would turn it into a square by inserting Gwyn. SJM could've chose not to give Gwyn and Azriel any ties in any way whether it was him rescuing her, him training the Valkyries, and again, including her in his own bonus chapter (hell even her boss:guardian Clotho made an appearance).

But she did and based on her pattern with her male love interests in particular, she doesn't really insert a new female or have females fight over the male love interest. I don't ever see Elain and Gwyn fight over Az, each might have an issue with Az on their own but do I see them argue with each other over Azriel? Absolutely not.

And if you look at the sequence of the scenes in his chapter, it gives a better idea of how it was planned:

1. Starts with Azriel reflecting on his loneliness while everyone left.

2. Elain shows up and they interact, Azriel gives her the necklace and they almost kiss.

3. Rhysand interferes and Az stops the kiss and tells Elain it was a mistake.

4. Az and Rhys argue and ends with Rhys ordering him to stay away from Elain and dismissing him.

5. Az leaves to the House of Wind wanting to work off the frustration but finds that Gwyn already occupied the training ring.

6. Gwyn and Az interact and he leaves the scene feeling settled down and his shadows calmed.

7. He wakes up, goes to the River House and finds Elain's necklace, he pockets it with the intention of returning it to the shop after the snowball fight.

8. Instead of the shop, he goes to the library to ask Clotho to give the gift to Gwyn and refuses to leave with it.

9. Going back and forth, Clotho eventually agrees and said she will tell Gwyn a friend gave it to her and she thanks Az for the joy it will bring to Gwyn.

10. Az leaves but the mention of Gwyn's joy sparked something in him that it brought a slight smile to his face, he buried the image in his chest where it glows quietly.

Both interactions with Elain and Rhys ended with him feeling miserable, but both interactions with Gwyn and Clotho ended with him feeling lighter and better—and to me that shows me how intentional SJM was with creating these parallels (including the shadows skittered back vs the shadows danced and sang).

Instead of Gwyn and Clotho we could've had Mor or Nesta or Amren, but SJM chose Gwyn and Clotho. Like, it could've ended after Rhys's argument but again, it's a writer's choice.

That's why no matter how many times I reread ACOSF my mind doesn't change much because SJM is not that subtle.

[peacheeeliz]

011. hurry up we're hungry (1k wc)

“Thank you all for joining today, and I hope you enjoyed the stream!” You speak towards your camera, waving goodbye to chat with a sweet smile. “See you guys on Wednesday for the fourth session of empires!”

You say a few more goodbyes before you finally shut down the stream, letting out a sigh. Playing with Yuyu went great, and you had a lot more fun than you thought you would. But after streaming for about five hours with him, you were ready to hit the sack and sleep until noon tomorrow. You're about to just walk away from your desk completely before a deep chuckle brings you from your sleep-filled thoughts.

“Feeling tired?” He questions. You totally forgot you were still on call with him, as he kept quiet while you did your outro.

“Yeah, a little,” you answer, laughing softly. “But, knowing me, I'll probably just be lying in my bed for hours, scrolling through TikTok.”

He lets out another laugh at that comment, “same, not gonna lie.”

You smile softly at his laughter, leaning back in your chair. “If you're not in any rush to head to bed,” you start, playing with the wire of your headphones. “Would you mind maybe chatting for a bit?” He falls silent for a bit, and you continue before he has a chance to answer. “Just because it feels like we don't know each other that well, is all. Want you to feel more comfortable with me, despite the whole war going on and stuff.”

“I'd love to,” he responds, and you can almost hear the smile in his voice. “I don't really know anyone on the server that well, to be honest, so I kinda needed this.”

“Not even Yeonjun?” You ask, hearing a quiet ‘nuh-uh’ as your answer. “I'm surprised seeing as he invited you to join the smp.”

“I think it's just because I'm another popular streamer, honestly,” Yuyu answers truthfully, and you hear the shuffle of his shoulders shrugging.

“But you're not just any other popular streamer. You're obviously more than that,” you tell him, a small frown forming on your lips. “How did you even start streaming? You started just over a year ago, right?”

“Yeah, July last year,” he tells her, finally smiling as he reminisces about that time. “I always played Valorant, you know, it's been my favorite game ever since it came out. So, when my friend suggested streaming in my downtime, it actually sounded really interesting.”

“You don't stream all that often, though,” you note. “You must not have a lot of downtime?”

He lets out a pained laugh at that, “you got that right. My job is pretty demanding,” he pauses for a moment. “But, I really enjoy it. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.”

You smile at that, “that's really sweet.”

“I mean, that's how you feel about streaming, no?” He questions. “That's what I'm assuming, anyway. You stream a lot more than me, and it seems like you really enjoy doing it.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right,” you respond with a small nod, despite the fact that he can't see it. “God, I've been streaming for so long. It's not really a job for me anymore. You know? Like I can just hop on stream, play silly games with my friends, and it keeps me stable on top of all of that. It's crazy to see how far I've come and how far we've all come.”

“Yeah, you started way back when, huh?” He jokes, laughing through his nose. “Six years ago, right? Sorry, I have a friend who's a big fan, so I know a lot more than it might seem.”

“Aww, you do?” You tease, leaning forward once again to rest your chin on your hand. “I'd love to meet him one day.”

“Trust me, you do not,” he warns. “He's already threatened to crash my stream today. Almost disowned me after I killed you during the first empires session.”

You let out a soft chuckle, “that's cute. Come on, it won't be that bad if we just talk for a bit, you tell him, drawing out a couple of words.

He shakes his head lightly, “I'll think about it, alright? But I really don't think you two will be a good duo,” he starts, hearing your exaggerated gasp through his headphones. “He's crazy, and you're…. also crazy.”

“Wooow,” you exclaim, letting out a pained laugh. “Says the one who just blew me up the other day.”

“Hey, hey, that,” he pauses, chuckling. “That was an accident. I really did think Soobin was going to walk in first.”

“Oh, I'm so sorry for foiling your plans by walking into my building first,” you say, rolling your eyes. “Thank you for rebuilding it, though. Very sweet of you,” you tease, smiling softly.

You can just tell he's rolling his eyes in response, “it was the right thing to do, after killing you what? Three times now?”

“Even more if you count the Among Us stream,” you comment, giggling.

“Damn, I owe you big time, don't I?” He replies, sighing. “I'll make it up to you whenever you ask.”

Before you can respond, you hear a muffled voice coming from your headphones. Yuyu gives a quick ‘sorry,’ before responding to who you assume is his roommate. You sit there quietly, trying your best not to listen in or interrupt the two.

“Sorry, forgot I had plans with a few of my friends after the stream,” he comes back to you, frowning that your time together was cut short.

“No, it's all good, don't worry,” you tell him. “Go hang out with your friends, have fun.”

“Thanks for understanding,” he says, smiling. He hesitates, but doesn’t forget to tell you: “We should, uhm, do this again sometime. It was nice.”

You smile as well, “we should. I'm here whenever, alright?” You respond. “Well, unless Sungchan pulls me away. He gets a little jealous when others get more attention than him.” His deep chuckle rings through your ears again. “Talk to you later, Yuyu.”

“Yeah, talk to you later, Y/N,” he replies, waiting until you leave the call to finally close out of the app. He leans back in his chair again, smiling to himself.

synopsis ⤏ you're trying to peacefully build your starter house on the empires server when your neighbor so rudely (accidentally) kills you, starting the biggest war on the server just one day in.

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ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ taglist is closed!

[sebstanaddict]

The Prettiest Girl

Sebastian Stan x Reader One Shot

Summary: When you interview Sebastian Stan but all he wants is to flirt with you 🤭

A/N : I've been wanting to write this for a while. It's just a little something I wrote for fun. Hope it brings a smile to your face 😊

Warning : just pure fluff and maybe A Different Man spoiler although the movie isn't even out yet, so 😆

Word count: 2.9k

My other one shots >

---

Soho, New York - November 11th 2023 - 3.50 pm

—

Millions of soft icy particles fell from the heavens down to the earth on that fateful Saturday afternoon in Soho, New York. They covered everything from trees, buildings, pavements and the top of people's heads. Some had stuck on one particular window of an apartment and created beautiful patterns.

Y/n looked out the window and smiled. It had been snowing all day and it didn't look like it was going to stop soon. Everything looked white and the atmosphere felt serene and beautiful. Despite the cold she had always loved looking at snow and playing with them. She couldn’t wait to go out and make some snow men at the nearest park once the snow had stopped falling. But now she had a job to do.

She sat at her working corner in her bedroom and turned the laptop on. Moments later she opened the zoom application and started setting up her webcam so it showed her clearly with one of the walls in her bedroom as the background. She tidied her hair a little and fixed her white buttoned up blouse so that she looked presentable. Satisfied with how she looked, she entered the empty virtual room in the zoom application.

Her heart rate started to rise as she looked at her laptop screen. As a senior editor at one of the world’s top entertainment media, she was used to interviewing many celebrities. But that afternoon she was scheduled to interview the Hollywood A List actor and Marvel star Sebastian Stan, someone whom she had been in love with for quite some time. Despite having worked at the entertainment media for ten years, it was the first time she got the chance to interview Sebastian and she couldn’t help but feel very nervous about it.

She picked up the paper which had a list of questions she was going to ask him as well as some facts about his upcoming movie. Yes, one of the reasons for the interview was for him to promote the new movie. She had seen the movie and it was quite an interesting movie. She couldn’t wait to hear from him more about it.

She was re-reading the third question when the screen in front of her flickered and Sebastian’s face was shown on the screen.

“Hello!” Sebastian smiled wide and greeted her, making butterflies fly around in her stomach. How could someone look so gorgeous? She pondered as she stared at the screen and admired his beautiful face. Sebastian had let his hair grow but not that much. It was short but fluffy at the top. He had a very light layer of stubble like he just shaved yesterday. But of course it was his ocean blue eyes that mesmerized her the most.

“Hello Y/n.. earth to Y/n. Can you see me? Can you hear me?” Sebastian asked and she blinked several times, finally snapping out of being drowned in his gorgeous eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, I can see you. I can hear you. Sorry.” She blushed as he smiled again at her.

“Oh okay, that’s good. I'm sorry but I'm currently traveling and I'm stuck in traffic right now. So if I get disconnected or something it's ‘cause I'm on the road.” He said as he turned his camera around making her see that he was in a car.

“Oh okay. You know if it's a bad time, we can do this later.” She suggested.

“Oh no, it's okay. I mean as long as it's not two hours long. You know.” He chuckled.

“Oh of course not. Depending on your answers this could take half an hour to an hour at most.” She replied.

“Alright. I'll try to keep my answers short.” He said.

“Well, if you need to elaborate please feel free to do that.”

“Yeah.. yeah.. of course.” He smiled and for a second she could see like he was really seeing her for the first time.

“You look great by the way.” He winked and she felt like her heart leapt out of her chest.

“Uh.. thank you.You look great yourself.” She blushed yet again that she was sure she looked as red as a tomato.

“Oh, thank you.. “ He smiled shyly and she could see that he was blushing too. She loved how he could sometimes be uncomfortable when people compliment him. It was so endearing to her.

“Anyway, how are you? How is Atlanta?” she asked. As it happened, Sebastian was in Atlanta to shoot the next Marvel movie.

“I’m good, thanks. Atlanta is, well, it’s been cold but not that cold. We’ve been shooting indoors a lot with wires and stuff. It’s been hard and exhausting. But, you know, I shouldn’t complain. I really shouldn’t. It’s been great fun.” He replied.

“Can you tell me if Anthony is there?” she asked with a small smile on her lips.

“You know I can’t tell you that. I signed an NDA! I can’t.” He chuckled.

“But.. maybe off the record I can tell you. Later on.” He winked again and she felt butterflies yet again. She couldn’t believe how flirty he was to her.

“Okay, anyway, are you ready?” She asked.

“Yes, of course. Go on.” He smiled and she felt butterflies again in her stomach. Maybe this was a bad idea. She thought as she tried to compose herself.

“Good afternoon, Sebastian.” She finally greeted him after hitting the record button and smiled at him.

“Good afternoon!” He answered, smiling wide at her.

“Thank you for doing this for us and giving your time amidst your busy shooting schedule.” She said.

“Oh no, thank you for allowing me to do this.” He said and she nodded.

“So, Sebastian, you have a new movie releasing soon called A Different Man, directed by Aaron Schimberg starring yourself, the Norwegian break out actress Renate Reinsve and the British actor Adam Pearson.” She said and this time he nodded.

“I had the privilege to see it yesterday thanks to you and the director Aaron, and I must say that it is a very interesting and out of the box movie. Could you tell me how you got involved with it?” She asked.

“Oh yeah. My agent sent me the script and I think it was such an interesting script. I mean, it’s very rare to see movies with this subject matter. The director Aaron had done another movie before this called Chained For Life that had a similar subject matter. In that movie he also cast Adam. And I watched the movie and I fell in love with it. The way Aaron told the story was very unique. I haven’t seen anything like it in a long while. And yeah, I thought that the movie was something that I would love to be involved in.”

“Aside from being the main actor, you are also a producer in this movie. Is that correct?”

“Yeah I am. It’s the first movie I ever produced.”

“What made you decide to be involved not just as an actor? But also as a producer?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about producing for a while but never got anything I was excited about until this one came. Aaron needed some help and seeing his talent and his previous work I decided to jump into it and help him out.”

“I see. So, in this movie, you play someone with neurofibromatosis, and you had to change your face completely. How did it feel to be under all those prosthetics and looking in the mirror and saw a completely different version of you?”

“It felt surreal of course. It took a long long time to get the prosthetics on correctly the first time. I think it took almost a whole day. But then they figured it out and the next day I basically just had to put on like a mask and then they added some more stuff on my face to blend it in.”

“Oh, that’s really interesting. I’m sure it helped a lot in your performance looking completely different.”

“Yeah, yeah. It helped a lot in that I just needed to look in the mirror and just like that I felt like a completely different person.” He said as he snapped his fingers.

“And it showed. Being someone who have seen your work a lot over the years, I must say you have done the best job of your career.”

“Oh my gosh. That’s.. really?” He asked, his face reddened and he put one hand on the side of his face.

“Yeah. Really. It was your best work in my opinion and I wouldn’t be surprised if you get an Oscar nomination for it. I really wouldn’t.” She smiled.

“That’s.. wow.. it means a lot, coming from you. Really.” He smiled and she couldn’t help but blush again. She couldn't believe he would say something like that.

“Umm.. yeah. Anyway, could you tell me how Adam and Renate got involved?” She asked, deciding to ignore what he said. She was just going to cut that part out and pretended he never said it.

“Oh yeah, with Adam it was a no brainer really. Aaron had cast him even before I got involved. Adam was actually involved waaay before I did. As for Renate. I had seen her movie The Worst Person In The World and I loved her performance in it. It was so real and raw. I knew when I read the script I wanted someone like her to play Ingrid. So I suggested her to Aaron and he agreed and I sought her out and well, the rest is history.”

“I can see why you wanted her to play Ingrid.”

“Yeah, she possesses this instinct as an actor that I haven't seen in a while. It was really a pleasure to work with someone who can keep up with you and even challenge you in their own way. You know. It was very rewarding as an actor to be able to work with someone like her. She was really something else. Kind of like you.” He winked.

“Excuse me?” She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

“Yeah.. I'm sorry but.. umm.. I really have to say this. I have never seen any girl looking as pretty as you are, especially when you blush. You’re quite literally the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.” He said and her heart seemed to leap out of her chest as she heard him. Once again she couldn’t believe how flirty he was to her!

“Oh stop it, Sebastian. I will definitely edit this out.” She chuckled as her face continued to redden.

“Oh no, don’t. I want people to see that.” he teased again.

“But that has nothing to do with the interview so I will definitely edit it out.” she insisted.

“Fine, I’m just gonna repeat it along the way, on the record and off the record, later on.” he winked and she just shook her head.

“Okay, back to the topic of your movie.”

“You’re so serious. I like that about you.” He teased her again and she felt herself blush yet again.

“There it is.. the blush. I love it.” He chuckled.

“Sebastian, please.”

“Please what, Y/n?” he asked as his voice suddenly changed to be huskier, as much as she didn’t believe it.

“Please stop flirting with me. I’m trying to do my job.” she protested.

“I'm sorry. I'm being really unprofessional aren't I?” He sighed and she nodded.

“Okay, I'm sorry. I'll try to be more professional as long as you promise me something.”

“Okay.. promise you what?”

“That you'll go out with me.”

Her heart seemed to stop as she heard him. This couldn't be happening, she thought in disbelief.

“You're in Atlanta and I'm in New York. How are we going to do it?” She asked, suddenly feeling courageous enough to tease him back about it because she was certain he was just joking with her for whatever reason.

“You know I go back to New York every weekend. So, we can go this weekend!” He said excitedly.

“Okay. Sure. I need to ask my husband's permission first though.” She said as an idea popped into her head and his eyes widened.

“Your husband's permission? I should have known someone as gorgeous as you is already taken. I'm too late aren't I?” He said dejectedly and she couldn't help but chuckle. He looked so cute pouting like that.

“Well.. yeah. You are too late. I'm sorry. But, he's quite an open minded person so maybe I can ask him.“ she said teasingly.

“Oh good! Where is your husband? Let me ask him myself.” He challenged.

“Wait here.” She chuckled and she stood up. She went to her bed and picked up a life size human shaped pillow with Sebastian's face on it then brought it back to her working desk.

“There he is. Sebastian say hello to pillow!Sebastian.” She said, showing the pillow to the webcam and the real Sebastian on the screen threw his head back and laughed.

“Oh my God! Hello pillow!Sebastian! I would like to ask for your permission to ask your beautiful wife out, please. I can't stand looking at her being so pretty like that. I must have her. Please. Could you do me a favor and divorce her?” He asked and she laughed.

“He said over his dead body.” She replied after her laughter subsided and he pouted again, making her laugh again.

“Hey pillow!Sebastian, I literally bought you for her and now you have the audacity to steal her from me?! Unbelievable!” He protested.

“He's sorry but he said he loves me and he can't divorce me.” She teased him again and he pouted yet again.

“Sweetheart, listen to me. I can’t do this and sit here miles away from you when you look so amazingly beautiful like that just teasing me with your pretty face. You have no idea what I'm imagining right now.” He said, gazing at her with eyes full of love and dare she said it, lust.

“Oh, what are you imagining?” she asked. Despite knowing this was very unprofessional of him, she couldn't help but be curious about it.

“I'm imagining being there with you and placing my hands on the sides of your face and just.. kiss that pretty lips of yours.” he said slowly, his voice low and husky.

She shivered as she listened to him and felt butterflies again in her stomach.

“I miss you, sweetheart.” He continued, staring at her with longing and she smiled.

“I miss you too, Iubirea mea.” she replied, making him smile.

“There it is. I love when you call me that.” He smiled.

“I love calling you that too.” She smiled.

“So, go out with me this weekend?” He asked and she of course couldn't answer with anything else.

“Sure. I'd love to go out with you, my darling husband.” She winked and he laughed.

“Glad to hear that my lovely wife.” he replied making her smile.

Just then his camera shook and he turned to the side.

“Oh, great! We're here!” He said excitedly.

“Sorry, I have to go, sweetheart.” He turned to her.

“Oh okay. Yeah. I'll talk to you later?” She asked.

“Wait.” He said as the camera continued to shake. She could hear the sound of a car door opening and closing and then the camera turned to show the sky as Sebastian continued to move.

“Seb? Sebastian?” She called out.

It seemed he didn't hear her as his phone's camera continued to shoot at the sky and then it showed a ceiling as Sebastian seemed to be entering a building. She studied the ceiling and thought that it looked familiar. Then it seemed like he was entering an elevator. A familiar ding could be heard as the elevator stopped and Sebastian got out of it. She continued to watch with a smile on her face as Sebastian seemed to be walking. Then he stopped and turned his phone's camera back on his face.

“Sweetheart. There's a surprise for you at the door.” He said with a twinkle in his eyes.

She laughed and immediately ran out of her room and towards the front door. She opened it wide and there he was, Sebastian Stan, staring at her like he saw the sun for the first time.

“Hi.” He smiled as he switched his cellphone off and put it in his pocket.

“Hi.” She smiled back, her heart beating so fast in her chest.

“I was right.” He said as he walked slowly closer to her.

“About what?” She asked, feeling like she was going to faint seeing him so close to her.

“You are.. literally.. the prettiest girl.. I've ever seen.” He smiled as he gently placed both hands on the sides of her face and gazed at her with longing.

“Oh shut up and just kiss me.” She said and he laughed.

And with that he pulled her closer to him and gently kissed her lips, causing fireworks to explode in her chest. She pulled him into her apartment and closed the door behind him as her plans obviously changed that afternoon. Interviews can wait. Snow men can wait. At that moment all she wanted was to be with him. Sebastian Stan. The love of her life.

[featki]

Mine !

— pairing: 양정원 x reader — contains: Flirting, possessiveness, situationship (?) — now playing: 一子青葉

You didn't like Jungwon like that.

His smile, his hair, his broad shoulders, his dumb little cat eyes, the way he towered over you, you didn't like any of it in more than just a friend way.

But you found yourself daydreaming about him, about the way he holds you, the way he wraps his arm around you when around your guy friends. The way he's possessive without even realizing it.

It's adorable how he tries to act indifferent, but in reality, it's obvious that he cares.

-

"What are you wearing to the after-party?" He snuck up on you in the hallway.

"Uh, I don't know." You give him an exaggerated smile.

"You should wear that cute little jean miniskirt I like, with your white off-the-shoulder top and the black tank top underneath."

You snickered at how fast he recommended it "Sure wonnie, whatever you want"

"Whatever I want? Yeah?" He smirked like he always does when he's thinking of something flirty to say

"You know what I mean wonnie.." You finished the sentence with a sigh, almost a whine "I know I know, I'll pick you up at 7, ok?"

"Okay!" You say as he walks in front of you to meet with his friend's

-

7pm.

Waiting on your porch for Jungwon to pick you up like always, even though it's freezing out, and the miniskirt isn't helping.

You can hear his Ferrari F40's engine from down the street. It's so loud that it's probably annoying the neighbors who are trying to get their kids to sleep.

Jungwon jumps out of the car wearing a white t-shirt, blue baggy jeans, and a black jacket unzipped down to his stomach.

You guys were matching, Jungwon probably planned it

"We're matching!" Jungwon smirks at the way your voice gets louder when you're happy

"Of course baby.. they need to know you're mine right?" He opens the car door for you to get in

You spent the entire ride to Jake's house thinking about what he said, "His? If I am his why doesn't he just make it official rather than playing with me all the time.. "

When we arrived he opened my door for me and took my hand, normal for Jungwon, he was a gentleman.

But he never let go of my hand. He locked the car doors, walked into the party, said hello to his friends, got himself a drink, and still didn't let go.

He only let go when I pulled away to see my friend, in his eyes followed me, watching my every move

"Yeji!"

"There you are! I've been looking for you"

You laughed apologetically, "Sorry, Jungwon pulled me around for like 10 minutes"

"Oh my god I saw that.. did he finally confess?"

"Confess? Yeji he doesn't like me like that..." You were lying through your teeth. You knew Jungwon liked you, or at least had feelings for you one way or another, you just didn't know whether you guys were actually just friends or not

"You're actually stupid" "She said, as she pulled me towards her other friends.

There you met Hwang Intak, one of Yeji's friends

He was looking you up and down while smirking, he was cute but the way he was looking at you gave you chills, and not in a good way

"Who's this Yeji?" he asked in a deep and seductive voice, a hint of playfulness in his tone.

"This is y/n!"

"Join me for a drink, y/n? I promise to make it worth your while. We have non-alcoholic options too."

"Oh, sure!" You were trying to be kind, even though you weren't really all that interested

Jungwon leans against the wall, his eyes fixed on you as Intak leads you to the kitchen. As you start to chat with Intak, you can feel Jungwon's gaze lingering on you. His eyes seem to be filled with a hint of jealousy, and you can't help but wonder what's going on in his mind. You try to focus on the conversation, but you can't shake off the feeling of being watched. You can't help but feel flattered by the attention.

Despite his attempt to remain composed, you could see the jealousy in his eyes as they darted between your gaze and Intak's hand on your waist, he wanted to be the one with his around your waist.

Jungwon didn't say anything until you got back home

-

"He was so touchy.."

"No he wasn't Jungwon, you're just overthinking everything." You chuckled, trying to lighten the mood

"He's just a friend, Wonnie," you say as you sit on your bed looking up at him.

As Jungwon enters your room, he closes the door behind him and follows you with a jealous grin. "Just a friend?" he teases, his eyes sparkling mischievously. You sit down on your bed, feeling his gaze on you as he walks towards you, his steps slow and deliberate.

"He looks at you the way I look at you... and I don't see you as a friend, baby." Shivers ran down your spine.

"How do you look at me?..."

Jungwon leans down towards your face, his eyes locking with yours, and you feel your heart start to race as he moves closer, his warm breath tickling your skin. You can sense his hesitation, but the intensity of the moment is too much to resist. Finally, he gives in, pressing his lips gently against yours, his hand finding the small of your back. The kiss is soft and lingering, filled with a tenderness that leaves you breathless. As he pulls away, you can't help but feel a sense of longing, already craving more of his touch.

"Like you're mine, and no one else's."

@ featki

Taglist: @ilovejungwonandhaechan @positivelyinlovewithjungwon

[sheeple]

Miracles don't exist | 34: Stay and leave

Genre(s): Riddle!reader / Slytherin!reader / kinda slowburn / little happy moments Fandom(s): Harry Potter Pairing(s): Theodore Nott x Reader / Harry Potter x Riddle!reader Summary: Being the Dark Lord's daughter and raised under the strict supervision of the Malfoy's is no easy life. Especially if you start crushing on your father's arch-nemesis, Harry Potter. And that while being engaged to one of his follower’s sons. Warning(s): None really [Masterlist] [Mini masterlist] [Playlist]

You wouldn't have thought that shadowing Dolores Umbridge was the worst part of the Voldemort takeover. But surprisingly, it is. The woman takes a true delight in bringing dread and sorrow to other people. 

You're not even listening to the hag questioning the poor Muggle-born witches and wizards. Instead, you write letters with no intention to send them. They're mostly to Sirius. You miss the man. The safety and comfort he provided is a far-away concept in the middle of the war.

Sirius,  How are you? Are you safe? Is the Order still fighting the fight? I wish I could join. But I am under close observation at the Manor. The Dark Lord has great expectations for me and I am scared what will happen if I don't follow them to a T.  I am married now. For a while actually. To Theodore Nott. It's the same boy who was at the hospital. Despite it being a forced marriage, I am happy it's him. He takes good care of me, so don't worry. We keep each other safe in the eye of the war.  How are Harry, Hermione and Ron? Are they safe? The last thing I've heard was that they are on the run for the Ministry. Do you know what they are doing? Maybe I can find some things out for them to help them?

You look up from the letter and your frustration with the words on the page only grows when you look at the pink hag. There is a constant high-pitched ringing that follows Umbridge wherever she goes. And it seems like only you can hear it. It brings you to the brink of insanity and your hands itch to grab your wand and silence the witch and the ringing once and for all.

A chill rolls over your back while your head twitches. The thoughts scare you. And they have been getting a lot worse ever since you have been ordered to shadow the Muggle-Born Registration Commission. You glance up at the ceiling, where a pack of dementors hoover above the Patronus barrier Umbridge created. 

Mafalda Hopkirk has been giving you skittish looks the whole time and every time you give her a small but awkward smile when you catch her eyes. She then quickly looks away, her eyes wide as saucers. Shaking your head, you crumple up the letter to Sirius and put it in the pocket of your jacket. 

The high-pitched ringing around Dolores picks up when she speaks. "Marry Elisabeth Cattermole. Of 27 Chislehurst Gardens, Great Tolling, Evesham?"

"Yes", whispers Mrs Cattermole scared.

"Mother to Masie, Ellie, and Alfred? Wife to Reginald?"

Mrs Cattermole turns her head. Her husband gets dragged in by Albert Runcorn, the former having a skittish look on his face. Mafalda tenses in her seat at the arrival of the two men and you raise your brows. Interesting.

Mr Cattermole goes to stand next to the chair his wife is seated on while Runcorn stands in the doorway.

Umbridge continues after thanking Runcorn, "Marry Elisabeth Cattermole? A wand has been taken for you upon your arrival at the Ministry, Mrs Cattermole. Is this that wand?" She holds up the wand.

Runcorn starts to circle Mrs Cattermole as she answers the crude questions the hag throws at her, her voice getting thick with desperation.

As Umbridge accuses Mrs Cattermole of lying, Runcorn's face hardens with hatred. It piques your interest as the man always has seen impartiality of the many claims Dolores makes. You sit up straight, no longer leaning with your head on your hand.

As the poor woman begs her husband to defend her, the ringing intensifies. It's almost unbearable. Your head snaps towards Umbridge, seeing that Runcorn has snuck upon her, his wand in his hand.

Suddenly, Runcorn's face starts to bubble and deform. A nightmarish sight as his face morphs. "You're lying, Dolores. And one mustn't tell lies." 

Runcorn- no Harry! Harry fires stupify at Umbridge, who slumps in her seat. As Mafalda reaches out and janks something from her neck, Mr. Cattermole hits Yaxley with a spell, which makes him fall off his seat.

You have no clue why the two strangers help Harry, but you're quick on your feet, running after them as they bolt out of the interrogation room with Mrs. Cattermole. 

The dementors swoop after you as the Patronus charm disappears with Umbridge rendered unconscious. Just before you jump after them in the elevator you send your hippogriff down the hall, which fends off the dementors.

The elevator speeds off and you're met with two pairs of wands in your face. You hold up your hands in surrender as you try to catch your breath. "Please", you pant, "I'm on your side. We have to escape the Ministry as soon as possible as it is likely that the fireplaces will be shut off at any moment. But we have to pretend. Please..."

Mr Cattermole takes a step towards you, his wife still tightly clutching his arm. "And why should we believe you?" Now that you hear his voice you recognise him. It's Ron. So that means that Mafalda is... the Poli-juice has run out of her system and Hermione looks at you, an unreadable expression on her face. But she gives Ron and Harry a look that tells them to trust you.

The doors of the elevator open and you all bolt out. You decided to run behind them so it looks like you're chasing them. As the police storm your group, spells fly around your ears. You can hardly dodge them.

"They're mine!", you growl at Yaxley as you pass him, throwing spells yourself that you misfire on purpose. 

With Yaxley hot on your heels, you fire Depulso at the man so he crashes into the opposite wall, before diving after the Golden Trio into the last open fireplace.

You twist and turn, your body contorting uncomfortably until you roll onto the ground, dirt and try leaves in your mouth. You cough and wheeze as you try and scramble upon your feet.

Your wand flies out of your hand and a hot glowing tip gets pushed into your face. You up scared at Harry as he holds you at wand point. But painful wailing catches your attention and you look to the side.

Ron lies squirming on the ground, the flesh of his arm removed in graceful twists. Blood coats Hermione's hands as she tries to comfort the wailing redhead.

She yells to Harry for him to grab the bottle of Dittany from her bag. As he searches haphazardly, you reach for your wand before crawling towards them. "I know a spell. Please, let me help."

Hermione nods, tears and panic paint her face. Closing your eyes, you begin to recount the sing-like incantation of Vulnera Sanentur, the same spell Snape used on you after your incident in the toilets a couple months back.

Ron's twitching slowly eases as his wounds gradually close. Hermione pets Ron's head while she watches you work. Her bloodied hands leave red streaks on his forehead.

You sit back on your heels, watching your spell work. Your eyes travel from Hermione and Ron towards Harry, who stands off to the side with something in his hand. A necklace or some sort.

"Why- what were you thinking?! Do you realise how incredibly dangerous the Ministry is right now for you lot?!" You raise from your feet, dusting off your knees. You run frustrated a hand over your face. "Was it at least worth it?"

Hermione and Harry share a look with each other, the former giving Harry a sympathetic look. Harry sighs and holds up his hand, showing you what Hermione snatched from Umbridge. A locket.

You reach for it and when you touch it, a weird feeling goes through you and your head twitches violently to the side. And so does Harry's. 

"Wha-what is it?"

Harry still looks hesitant. "A Horcrux."

Raising your eyebrows, you look at Harry, silently asking him to explain.

The bespectacled boy sighs. "You-Know-Who has split his soul into seven pieces in order to be immortal and put them in objects. And to defeat him, all those objects need to be destroyed."

Your eyes flicker towards the locket. "So... You're telling me that a part of the Dark Lord's soul is in that locket?"

Harry nods and you sigh heavily. "How many did you destroy already?"

"Dumbledore managed to destroy two, but other than this one we have no clue what those objects are."

Chewing on your bottom lip you frown, thinking deeply. "I imagine that the Dark Lord keeps those objects close to him or in a secured place. I mean... I wouldn't be surprised if Nagini is a Horcrux. She's everywhere he goes. Except for a couple of times, she's with me when it is not safe for her to join him."

While you and Harry discuss the locket, Hermione has set up a tent and is placing protective charms around the encampment. Her voice makes you turn towards her.

"I have to go. If I stay any longer people will be suspicious."

"You-you can stay", blurts Harry out, his eyes wide. "With us... if you want. Or we can bring you to Sirius, where you are under the protection of the Order." He takes a step towards you, his hand reaching out. But you flinch away from him, not having forgotten the pain his curse caused.

You shake your head, playing with the ring on your finger. "You know I can't Harry. I'm so afraid of what they'll do to him if I don't return. Once they discover I betrayed them, they will kill Teddy to make an example. I am sure of it." Your bottom lip wobbles at the thought of those warm, brown eyes staring up at you blankly. Just like Mrs Burbage's.

"You're married?" Hermione has finished the protective enchantments and grabs your hand, examining the ring. "It's beautiful..." Her eyes catch the faded outline of the bracelet around your wrist and frowns. She looks at you with silent questions in her eyes.

You snatch your hand away, tugging it behind your back. "Ancient wizarding traditions", you say, hoping it explains enough. 

You turn around to walk out of the protective barrier, but just before you stop. Turning around, you say, "you have to hit me with a spell. Preferably in my face."

"I'll do it", quips Ron, who you honestly to Merlin kind of forgot that he was there. Hermione shoots him a look.

"Yaxley saw me leave with you. I can't come back and claim to have battled you without any proof. I'm not saying you have to break my nose. But just a few cuts here and there."

After some convincing Hermione reluctantly agrees to do it, as she is arguably the most skilled out of all of them. She stands a few metres away from you, wand at the ready. 

"Just... don't scar my face again, please", you say before closing your eyes. 

You hear Hermione take a sharp breath in before wordlessly firing a spell your way. It hits you square in your face and sends you flying back a few metres. A pained groan escapes you as Hermione hurries towards you, helping you to your feet.

"How do I look?", you ask weakly, half a smile on your face. You feel blood run out of your nose and staining your lips while your forehead stings. "Thanks for not going easy on me."

Hermione engulfs you in a tight hug. "Please be careful."

You hug her for what could be the last time for a very long time before stepping outside of the boundary. The encampment is gone when you turn around. Taking a deep breath you dissipate back to the Manor.

You land safely back in your and Theo's bedroom. Expect it's a total mess. Every door, drawer, and cabinet is wide open, and clothes and papers are strewn about. Everything is turned over like it was searched for something. And then you see it. The box you stored all your letters to Sirius is pulled from its hiding place under your bed and empty, every letter taken away.

Shit! SHIT!

The door flies open and you raise your wand. Theo stands in the door opening, eyes wide and hair dishevelled like he has been running his hand through it. 

The two of you stare at each other before it finally clicks in your mind. You wildly search the pockets of your coat for the letter you wrote today. But it's gone.

Within two strides, Theo's next to you and grabbing your face, wiping the blood away. "What happened? They are turning the house inside out in search of you. Why are you covered in blood?"

"You have to leave", you say, turning around and grabbing the first bag you find and stuffing it with clothes for him. But he grabs your arm which effectively stops you. You look at him guiltily, casting your eyes to the ground. 

"I'm not leaving without you."

You shake your head. "Listen to me, Teddy, please. They will kill you if you don't leave. Please." As you beg, you grab his hand and push the bag into his hold. "Quickly, before they find me."

You hear footsteps down the hall. Panic floods your system and you look around the room. you spot one of the first letters you wrote for Sirius and take it, pressing it in his hand. "Go to 12 Grimmauld Place and show them this letter."

"I'm not leaving without you. We're married, (Y/n). We're supposed to do this together."

Shaking your head, you hear the people near your room. "Now, Theodore", you growl, your breath picking up. 

Just before the Death Eaters storm your room you hear the distinct sound of disapparition and Theo is gone.

The door gets thrown open and a handful of Death Eaters pour into your room. "Get her!", one says before they pound upon you.

Taglist: (bold means I couldn’t tag you): @the0doreslover @lqndkxlmqma @st4rrry  @choppedpartymuffinwinner @ledtassoo @literallyobessed @lestat-whore​ @vanishingcherry @harrysnovia @pietrobae @ireallywannasleep127 @yeolsbubbles @fruityfrog505 @fluffybunnyu @theroyalmanatee @shinrjj @hegdus @kermits-bitch @m1kasawps @noah-uhhh-what @mypolicemanharryyy @fals3-g0d @decapitated-coffee @thatgirljas13 @slytherinambitious @raineisms @mastermindmiko @timmytime17 @regsg18 @supernatural-lover @bubybubsters @lafrone @hermionelove @the-sander-fander @akengii @aliciacat20 @unstablereader @burns-in-the-sun @rachelnicolee @damagelove @mqndrqke @llpovi @clairesjointshurt @222244445555 @jolly4holly @padf00ts-l0ver @fandom-life-12 @prettyb1tchsblog @pari-1 @f14ever @nopedefe @randomgurl2326

[khunyuki]

Ok I thought of an idea for kn8 hear me out Pls!!!!! what about soshirou older brother aka soichiro enter the fight between narumi and soshirou but like in a funny scenario like him witnessing the love triangle going on decided to tease the two by making them jealous by using kagami in front of everyone to witness I'm talking hugging kagami , leaning towards her , putting his head on her lap, and whispering to her something that make her blush and giving her gift basically all those cheesy cliche stuff which ends up the two rival working together doing whatever it takes to get souchiro away from kagami in end souchiro revealing he won't steal kagami from them ( kinda think since we know that soichiro obviously care for soshirou that he would atleast have a great relationship to kagami in some extent to see how his brother doing)

Sorry if this to long 😭 also love your stories!!! They're amazing ♥️

Ohhhh!!! That's a very interesting idea anon! I've thought of Soichiro doing this with his brother only but adding Gen to the mix? Definitely chaos HAHAHA

Thank you very much for loving my stories, anon🥹 Also, your idea is fine, great even! The more specific the better hehehe

Anyways, here's your order! I hope you enjoy~

"I've lived my life with blade and you always by my side"

ʀᴇqᴜᴇꜱᴛ: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍

Pairing/s: Hoshina Soshiro x Uzui Kagami x Narumi Gen, feat. Hoshina Soichiro

Masterlist: TOC

The City of Akihabara. Famous for its electronics shops, arcade games, maid cafes, and stores catering to anime and game lovers. It was not a place you would see Uzui Kagami in but here she is, standing in its busy streets, waiting for someone.

"Onee-san~ Are you alone? Wanna hang out with me?"

This was not something she could avoid could she. She was prepared to ignore the person trying to pick her up but as that person stood in front of her, she could recognize the tail of white and purple hair. And as she looked up, she could see the familiar face of her dear brother-in-law.

"Not cool, Soichiro-niisan"

She deadpanned at the person in front of her who was unbothered by her reaction.

"You would totally react if it was Soshiro who did it"

If his narrow eyes could wink, he would totally be doing so. He knew that mentioning little brother's name would make her react and he's proven to be correct as she tries to hide her blush from him.

"So~ Why does my cute little sister want to meet up in Akihabara of all places?"

"I wanted to buy a gift for Soshiro but I don't know what. My captain said there are some games good for couples to play"

Soichiro hummed as he looked around the place. He's been here before with some of his friends but knew it was her first time. He glanced back at his sister who seemed really curious about the place.

"For now, why don't we look around first"

Kagami nodded as they started walking, her eyes darting all over the place. They talked as they walked, catching up on things while stopping to window shop at some stores.

Kagami would sometimes hangout with her future brother-in-law, Hoshina Soichiro, despite the disapproval of her fiance, his brother. The reason she's doing this is simple. She knew just how much Soichiro adores his little brother yet Soshiro doesn't want anything to do with his older brother. She's tried hard to reconcile them again and again but failed everytime.

So here she is, spending her time with her big brother, just to tell him stories about his little brother. Of course that doesn't mean she'll only be talking about him! Kagami is a single child so she's really happy to have a big brother like Soichiro, as he is overjoyed to have a sister like her. Hanging out with Soichiro-niisan just to be spoiled is truly the main purpose of this event!

"Our little Kagamin is really spoiled, isn't she?"

He pinched her nose as she scrunched up with his actions, squatting his hand away. He could only laugh at her as he ruffled her hair. Her arm still link around his as she glared at him for ruining her hair.

To the two, these signs of affection are only part of their usual interactions as siblings-in-law. To a bystander, however, it seems like two lovers are having PDA on the streets.

Lovebirds.

That's what it looked like to Narumi Gen who dropped his newly bought PS6 to the ground in shock. His eyes were bulging out of his sockets and his jaw was technically on the floor as he watched his crush drag away the long haired male to someplace with their arms linked together.

"This can't be! NOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Narumi Gen dramatically reacted as he kneeled on the ground and hit it with both of his fists like a meme, the passersby avoiding him like a plague. He would wipe the crocodile tears but instead, there was fire burning in his eyes.

Who does that guy think he is putting his hands on his crush?!!!

He saw Kagami and that guy he doesn't know by the claw machines. She was pointing at the purple cat with squinted eyes as he tried to get it for her. Gen saw her laughing at him for not being able to get it on his first try as the man flicked her forehead before trying it again. He gripped the machine he was hiding behind at and is definitely gritting his teeth with jealousy.

The Strongest Narumi Gen: oi

The Strongest Narumi Gen: Kagami's with someone

The Strongest Narumi Gen: fuck they're too close

The Weakest Bastard: What do you mean?

Hoshina Soshiro couldn't help raising his eyebrow once he saw the message. His fiancee being too close to someone? That's impossible.

Big Fat Loser sent a photo

Big Fat Loser: i'm gonna kill this bastard

Soshiro looked at the photo and the default smile on his face dropped. Was this why Kagami wasn't hanging out with him on their day off? Cuz she's having a date with his brother?? He could imagine his brother doing this on purpose just to annoy him, and it's proven to be effective.

I Am Winner: that's my brother

I Am Winner: i'm coming over

Those were Soshiro's last words as he exited his apartment, heading straight for Akihabara. Ain't no way he's letting his brother get away with this scheme.

The moment Narumi Gen saw the word brother on the screen, he understood just why he found that man irritating. His hair color was different but those eyes, those narrowed eyes were the same. He had a nagging feeling on the back of his head the whole time he was watching them, about where he had seen this fox-eyed man before. Turns out it was Hoshina Soichiro, captain of the Sixth Division, the older brother of his rival.

Hoshina Soichiro was no idiot. He already saw the captain of the First Division following them as soon as they exited the arcade. There's no way he's not feeling the daggers digging onto his back nor the dark aura he's exuding. He knows what Narumi's relationship was with his little sister for she tells him about it, sometimes complaining.

The captain of the First Division likes his little sister, that part was obvious. His little brother obviously loves his fiancee. He also knows of the rivalry between him and his brother. Hoshina Soichiro grins widely at the devious plan he came up with.

"What do you wanna do next?"

Soichiro placed his arm on her shoulders as they walked the busy streets of Akihabara. She tilted her head but let him be. He could hear growling behind as the aura of seething jealousy could no longer be contained.

"I'm hungry"

She pretended to think before telling him she's hungry, which earned a chuckle from him. They entered a restaurant, sitting on a table for 4, with Gen secretly following behind them. He sat a few tables away, hiding his face with the menu.

As the two placed their orders, the door to the restaurant opened and in come Soshiro, who tried to hide the fact that he rushed there. He was going to interrupt the two before he got dragged back by Gen.

"Why did you drag me back?"

"Are you crazy? Why would you head there without a plan?!"

"I don't need a plan to talk to my fiancee"

"This bastard..."

The two bickering idiots were bound to be noticed as they didn't bother hiding while doing so. Even more as they stand in the middle of the establishment, attracting the attention of other customers, particularly the two they were spying on. The staff wanted to try and stop the dispute but were too scared to do so.

"Now now, it's not good to fight the two of you"

The two who were grabbing each other's collars just now looked at the man that placed his hands on their shoulders. The man who was sitting a few tables away was now stopping their fight. The same man who was the cause of this in the first place.

"Soshiro and Gen-kun? What are you doing here?"

Kagami who also got up from her sit, wanting to help stop the commotion was surprised to see the people she wasn't expecting to be there at all. The two immediately wrapped their arms on each other's shoulder as they looked at her in a merry attitude.

"What a coincidence to see you here, Kagami"

"We were just in the area looking around"

Soshiro and Gen spoke alternatively, maintaining the facade. While they didn't totally answer her question, she didn't mind it.

"I knew it. You two are really close"

She smiled happily as she saw the good relationship between the two rivals. As expected, all of their bickerings and fights were just an expression of their closeness. Soichiro laughed at how oblivious she was to the situation, clearly seeing the two at each other's throats a few moments ago.

"Why don't you two join us for lunch? It would be bad for business if we continue to stand around here wouldn't it?"

Soichiro suggested as he had already dragged Kagami back to their seats, this time sitting besides her than in front. The two looked at each other before trying to take the sit in front of her first. Fortunately for Gen, he got was closer and sat first. Unfortunately for Soshiro, he had to face his brother rather than his fiancee.

"So... What brought you two in Akiba together?"

Gen was the first to ask, having been the one who's following them for a while. Side-eyeing the captain of the Sixth Division.

"It's been a while since we last saw each other so I just wanted to hang out with my little sister"

Acting oblivious, Soichiro side hugged Kagami and leaned his head on hers. This seemed to fluster her but she didn't stop him. Of course this would mean the two males in front of them were technically killing him on their heads now.

"I'm quite upset. Why didn't you tell me you're going to hang out with him of all people, Kagami"

Soshiro pretended to pout as he crossed his arms, looking quite disappointed. Kagami immediately became crestfallen, having been guilty of not telling him about it first.

"I'm sorry. You didn't want to talk about him so I..."

"It's not your fault"

It's this guy, he thought as he frowned at his brother who was clearly enjoying this.

"This brat, why are you making my sister sad?"

Soichiro pat Kagami in the head to comfort her. He pretended to frown as if what his brother did upsets him, when in fact, he was trying hard not a grin so hard.

"If you wanted to look around Akiba, you could just ask me! I know every inch and corner of this place"

Gen not liking how he's being ignored, turned back the question to him. He's incredibly annoyed but he had to hide it in front of his crush.

"I was actually going to but you said you were busy with the new game you just bought"

As if lightning had struck him, Gen couldn't help but react dramatically. It was there! The opportunity was there! Yet he blew it! He hit his head on the table from shame, crying crocodile tears, which startled Kagami who asked if he was okay.

Their orders arrived while Kagami was busily trying to comfort Gen. Soshiro took a sip from his drink as he blatantly ignored his brother. This made his brother show a sad smile, thinking his reaction was inevitable after everything.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine"

"Kagami told me a lot about you"

"I see"

The silence was awkward as Soshiro shut Soichiro down. Soshiro doesn't hate his brother but he couldn't help the feeling of inferiority every time he sees him. It's been so long since the last time they had contact so he just doesn't know what to do.

Gen could care less about their relationship as brothers but seeing how worried Kagami was, he had to at least do something.

"Remember that game I introduced to you last time? That one you liked most"

He tried to distract her but engaging a conversation with her alone.

"Which one? Oh! The visual novel one! What was it called again? Oto- Otome? Otome game!"

Kagami was confused at first as he had made her play plenty of games. Some she couldn't understand how to, the others easy but she doesn't quite like. For someone who likes to read like her, there is only one answer.

"I didn't expect you to be the type to play otome games, sis"

Amused, Soshiro and Soichiro joined the conversation. She tilted her head, not knowing what's wrong with it.

"It's unrealistic but the stories will hook you up. Though I don't know why there were plenty of guys/girls to choose from"

Soshiro squinted his also narrow eyes at the guy beside him in a 'what are you teaching her' kind of way. Gen feigned ignorance as he whistled.

As they finished eating and chatting, it was now time to leave. It was not in their plan to have two extras joining but it wasn't unwelcomed. The only thing was if they should continue their initial plan or not.

"Wanna head to the park, sis?"

Kagami nodded her head at her dear brother's suggestion, oblivious to the reactions of the two men who joined them.

"What about you guys, wanna come?"

Soichiro wanted to snicker bit he couldn't make it too obvious that he's finding their jealousy entertaining. He wanted to see how far he can go with teasing them as he whispered something to his sister's ear.

The two men saw her blush as she immediately hit his arm in embarrassment. Their glares worsened as they watched the smirk on his face growing wider by the second.

"Sure, why not? I'm free"

Gen took her side, squatting the arm trying to wrap itself on her shoulders. Once again taking her attention away to himself.

"Better than leaving you two alone"

Soshiro squeezed himself between Kagami and Soichiro as he tried to link their arms together. By now, Kagami was surrounded from both sides leaving Soichiro on the side. They started walking while ignoring the pouting man following behind them.

As soon as they arrived at Ueno Park, they could see a lot of people coming and going. There really wasn't much greenery as there were more ample pathways and flea market vendors in there. Depending on their choice, they could either go to the zoo, museums, or the lake. As they have a lot of time, they decided to go to all of them.

While Kagami was having a blast, the same couldn't be said to the three. Soshiro and Gen were joining forces to prevent Soichiro from getting closer to her which takes a lot of patience cuz he's so persistent. And when they think they fended him off, they'll be fighting each other for her attention which will give Soichiro an opportunity to take her away. Really, they couldn't get a break. As long as she's happy then they'll endure this.

"I'm gonna go get us some drinks"

They decided to rest on a bench after walking for a long time. It was really tiring but fun. So to show her gratitude, Kagami headed to the nearest vending machine to get them some drinks, leaving the three behind.

"No need to be so on guard, you two"

Once she was gone, the two unleashed a full on hostile attempt on Soichiro, finally being alone with him. He sweatdropped at them, raising his hands to show he means no harm.

"I'm not planning on stealing her"

They squinted at him, not believing his words at all.

"You better not"

They said at the same time as Soichiro just laughed awkwardly.

"I only think of Kagami as a little sister, after all"

He said this to reassure them but, in actuality, he's pointedly saying this to his brother. She'll be his sister in the future so there's nothing wrong in getting close, no?

"Umm... There are people waiting for me. Could you please get out of the way?"

The three of them could say more to each other but as soon as they saw Kagami being surrounded by two strangers who couldn't seem to get a hint. They dropped everything as they went to her. Soichiro and Gen holding on both of them while Soshiro takes her in his arms.

While they may not get along with each other, they will surely move together for her sake.

Note/s: It was fun writing this but I think I kinda half-assed it from the middle to the end😭 I'm sleepy, tired and busy so I just rushed the ending, skipped some parts, and didn't get to edit this properly. Sorry about that🙇‍♀️ But!! I think I showed what needed to be seen so I do hope you guys are satisfied🥹🥹🥹 Anyways, thank you again for reading my stories🫶💕

[rootsofdread]

you can't handle the uber instinct of my uber autism, observe

i love your writing so much i've been binging them until i've caught up with everything 😭 it's sooooo good i wanna save it and read it whenever i feel bored

if possible could i request hcs with danny, wesker, leon and ada with a gn!reader who often unknowingly rambles about their interests despite any circumstances?

truly we are all autistic about dbd (<- also autistic about dbd)

anddd thank you so so much!! i'm so glad you enjoy my writing that much! <33

Leon S. Kennedy:

Leon honestly admires your ability to enjoy any situation by talking about the things you like. It lifts his spirits, too, to see you so carefree and enjoying the moment. Even if the killer is a few feet away and you two are hiding in a locker.

You’re great at helping kill time while doing generators like this, always having something to say and something to chat about. It can be boring doing generators, especially if the killer is busy with someone else, so having someone to talk to is nice.

He may not really know what you’re talking about — he doesn’t know much about a lot of things, he never really had the time to be reading about different things before being taken due to his job — but he enjoys learning new things from someone as passionate as you. You make it fun.

When you realize you've been rambling to him and apologizes, he tells you that you don't need to. He appreciates the company and the conversation you provide, even if you don't realize it.

Ada Wong:

Ada may seem like she’s not paying attention, and sometimes she may be devoting a little extra focus to looking out for the killer, but she always is paying attention to you. She’s just a little aloof and has trouble getting along with others, but she loves you and listens to you even if it may not look like it.

She enjoys the “background noise” you provide while you two work on generators. By focusing on your words more than the work, you help her a lot by relieving the pressure of getting it right. And she’s grateful for that.

You quell her nerves by whispering to her when the two of you hide. The adrenaline tells her that she should tell you to keep quiet so you’re not found — but her love for you compels her to do the opposite. You being so carefree helps her calm down in stressful moments.

She never wants you to feel like you shouldn’t talk about things you enjoy. She tells you that you never need to apologize for rambling, that she enjoys it, and she asks you to keep going if you’d like to. She’s soothed by the sound of your voice.

Danny Johnson / The Ghostface:

Danny absolutely loves you being such a chatterbox. Information is his bread and butter, and knowing more about you and what you like is one of his most favorite things. So he happily lets you talk whenever you like, even if he’s attempting to sneak around with Night Shroud. He just reminds you to whisper and let him do his work.

He’s surprised when you even try to strike up a conversation about your interests while on the hook. Doesn’t that hurt? But he shrugs and decides to let you continue. Who is he to stop you after all — and there’s no rules that say you can’t talk while on hook. He just hopes you don’t accidentally give him away.

Truth be told, he probably already knows a lot about what you enjoy. That's his job, after all. He still lets you talk, though, of course — he would never deny you that. And he just loves listening to you, and surprising you by knowing precisely what you're going on about.

He thinks it's adorable when you realize how much you've been talking and get embarrassed. He always encourages you to go on and keep talking, he's riveted, he would love to hear more, please.

Albert Wesker / The Mastermind:

Wesker always loves learning, and believe it or not, he probably doesn’t know much about what you’re rambling about. He doesn’t have the time to waste on silly mortal things, you know, so chances are he wouldn’t already know anything about it. And if he’s nothing else, Wesker is a seeker of knowledge.

He finds it amusing you’ll always seek him out during trials to talk to him. And he always pays attention to you when you do, even while he’s trying to hunt down the other survivors. He finds it especially amusing when you run to catch up to him after he rushes to slam someone into a wall.

He tells you to hold on for a second when he carries someone off to a hook. When he returns to you, he tells you that you may continue. He needs to be focused to hook someone and doesn’t want you thinking he’s not paying attention to you.

Every time you apologize for rambling, he insists that you continue. He won’t have you feeling ashamed for enjoying yourself. You deserve to know that your rambling isn’t an issue and that he always has time for you, much more than seven minutes.

[kasagia]

Hi!

If you feeling like it, could you do a one shot in which Klaus and Reader have been together for a long time and love each other but when they move to Mystic falls Reader can see and feel Klaus distancing himself and crushing over Caroline?

Like he would start spending more time trying to get her attention and watching her, while putting his missions and schemes over Reader. She sees that his sketches are less about her and more about Caroline and she feels alone, heartbroken and ignored. Then she hears Klaus tell Caroline the same confession that he told her when they got together ("He is your first love, but I intend to be your last") and she runs away to collect her things from their shared room.

But what she doesn't know is that it was all a plan to make Caroline fall in love with him and tell him the plan of the Salvatore. At the end Klaus finds put about her missing and search for her but she is scared that now that he doesn't love her anymore he will hurt her to keep her mouth shut about the secrets that she knew so she goes on the run.

The ending is up to you ofc. Thank you!!

I'm not the only one

Pairing: Klaus Mikaelson x reader Summary: You and Klaus have been together for ages. You swore to each other Always and Forever. You could always rely on him, and the original hybrid trusted you with his plans. But how long can you turn a blind eye to his sudden interest in a certain Caroline Forbes? And after hearing him say the same words to her that practically started your relationship, you realize that maybe after all, you're not the only one for him. Warning(s): angst - because I'm having a terrible week and I needed to get rid of these negative feelings, Klaus cheating (kiss), broken reader, little comfort at the end because I don't like sad endings. Nonsense from me: I hope you like it! World count: 6,2k

You and me, we made a vow For better or for worse

You and Klaus have been together for a very long time. You stood by him as you built the might of New Orleans together—a safe home, a haven—until Mikael showed up and sent everything to hell. Despite this defeat, you were still with your beloved, escaping with him from his cruel father and trying to defeat Mikael once and for all. His siblings were like family to you (even though you never formalized your relationship). You've been Klaus' fiancée—kind of part of the family—but he could still get rid of you if he wanted at any time.

But you tried not to worry too much about it, knowing full well that Klaus didn't want to expose you to the wrath of his enemies and the special attention of his father if he married you. After all, you were still an ordinary vampire. A simple heart rip, a werewolf bite, or a wooden stake through your heart could kill you very easily and quickly.

You didn't need to make it official. His love and devotion were enough for you.

But since your arrival in Mystic Falls and (finally) breaking his curse, your relationship has started to sour.

Things between you two changed when certain Caroline Forbes showed up on the picture...

I can't believe you let me down But the proof is in the way it hurts For months on end I've had my doubts

One day Klaus' full devotion and love for you shone bright and uninterrupted from him, and the next day he completely ignored you, spending the entire fucking prom with that blonde bitch. The merciful, compassionate look from Esther and the Mystic Falls gang was the worst feeling you've felt in 300 years.

But you tried to justify his behavior when it turned out that his mother really wanted to kill them all. You thought he had distanced himself from you and turned his attention to this young vampire to protect you from Esther.

However, a few months later, when he completely lost interest in you, he stopped texting you during the day, and you fell asleep before he came home and got up when the bed was cold on his side (sometimes you even doubted he was coming home at all), and worst of all, his sketches were all about sweet Caroline—you began to have serious suspicions that he was doing all of this for "your own good".

Sarcasm completely intentional.

Of course, Elijah tried to explain away his brother's attitude, but you knew better. If Nik really cared about you, he'd be communicating with you about more than just the magic cure for vampirism that he had to get for Elena.

Even that fucking doppelgänger and her bodyguards talked to him more than you, his (probably now in name only) fiancée.

Denying every tear I wish this would be over now But I know that I still need you here

You sighed, folded your napkin, wiped your tears, and got up from the table. You blew out the red candles that had practically burned out and left the dining room, leaving the 300-year "engagement" dinner with Klaus on the table.

You went to the kitchen and took out of the fridge a bottle of wine specially chilled and stored for this occasion, from the exact year you met. You slowly walked up the stairs. The sound of your high heels hitting the marble steps echoed through the empty mansion, mocking your loneliness.

As you walked down the hall towards your room, you noticed that the light was on in one of the bedrooms. Without thinking, you entered the room of your favorite original and leaned against the door frame, watching with amusement his attempts to use the phone.

"Fuck. Stupid mortal device." at one point, the man turned on the flashlight, blinding himself. "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!" I burst out laughing as Kol fell off his bed. He looked around the room in surprise, blushing with embarrassment when he saw that I had witnessed this compromising event.

"Kol Mikaelson. The terror of the living and the dead, the deadliest and most dangerous of the original vampires, was defeated by the flashlight on his phone. Rebekah won't believe me when I tell her."

"Very funny. Shouldn't you be fucking my brother today on your anniversary instead of standing here and torturing me?" he muttered, getting up off the floor and brushing off the invisible dust.

"Apparently he has other priorities. Should I be worried you wanted to eavesdrop on us?"

"Don't flatter my brother. We both know I can hear better sounds from you if you'll let me. Besides, I'm not a weirdo. I was about to curl up the moment I heard the first sound of danger."

"Every day, I consider your offer more and more. And I seriously doubt Klaus will hold a grudge against you after that."

"Wait a minute. 200 years ago, you said you'd rather be celibate than sleep with me, and Nik threatened to castrate me with a rusty shovel. Is it that bad between you two?"

"Come on. It's great! That's why, on one of our most important anniversaries, I'm standing in his brother's room." you groaned, trying to hold back the tears welling up in your eyes.

You were so weak and naive, still only wanting the company of a man who hadn't said a single word to you in months that wasn't related to his plans.

"Okay, I understand... wait. What's this? Can I see tears? All right, that's enough of this. Get your ass up and let's go drink and dance. Now that you've dressed up, we'll make good use of your short, sexy dress. I heard those pups from the Mystic Falls gang are having a party at the Salvatore's house. Let's make a mess, darling!" he tried to comfort me by pulling me into a tight hug and evoking any sort of giggle.

"That's why you're my favorite. But don't even think you'll get a sip of this wine." I said with a half smile, trying to somehow appreciate his attempt to cheer me up.

"Don't blame me. I had to try, darling. Now go fix that mesmerizing makeup, and I'll see you downstairs."

You say I'm crazy Cause you don't think I know what you've done But when you call me baby I know I'm not the only one

Salvatores may have been a pain in the ass, but they knew how to throw a party. It was child's play for Kol and you to get inside and empty their liquor cellar. You laughed and joked until another couple showed up at our hideout.

You sat hidden among the barrels so that you had a view of the stairs leading up. At their feet stood probably your least favorite couple...

"Why did you just let Tyler come to the party? You're not going to tell me there's a heart in that empty space near your lungs?"

"Calm down, love. It's your birthday. You shouldn't be nervous."

"I get nervous every time I see you. Now. Tell me, what am I supposed to do to repay you for bringing my boyfriend here and letting him stay at my party? Because I don't believe you did all this out of the kindness of your heart and you don't want anything in return." she said suspiciously, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I want nothing, love. Consider it a birthday present." he replied nonchalantly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his suit pants. He didn't even wear those smart suits on your birthday; he hated them. You don't know if it was because he felt like a second Elijah in them or because he was used to his henley. Apparently, SHE was worth sacrificing a bit of his comfort.

"You already gave one to me. Actually, a lot. What's all this Klaus for? Why do you try so hard for me and make sure I have a wonderful day, only to bring my boyfriend back at the end of it?"

"He's your first love. I intend to be your last. However long it takes. Until then, let me spoil yourself. Seduce in all the ways you ever dream of." you felt as if the whole world stopped for a moment around you as you heard the same enchanting words coming out of his mouth to her that he had used to convince you to run away with him 300 years ago.

"Seriously? This goes against all the rules of flirting, without even mentioning that you already have a girlfriend."

"Y/N? She's only my minion. A person from dirty work. She imagines something more about us, and that's it. I never loved her. Not the way I care about you, Caroline." sure, go ahead. Go all out. Kiss and fuck against this wall. Anyway, your heart is already dead.

"Klaus I..." the blonde shook her head, staring in shock at the hybrid with a small disbelieving smile. Klaus walked over to her, taking her hands in his. Their mouths were centimeters away from joining in a kiss right in front of your eyes.

"Care! Where are you?! It's time for cake!" the screams of her friends saved you from watching the love of your life kiss someone else, adore someone else, and give his heart, his lips, his eyes, and his touch to someone else.

You could only watch silently as Klaus offered her his arm and helped her up the stairs. Always a gentleman… at least when he wanted something or expected something in return.

There was dead silence in the room. You could feel Kol's sympathetic gaze burning a hole in the left side of your head.

"Y/N, he didn't mean..."

"It's okay, Kol. I've got ears, a brain, and pretty good eyes. I know what I saw and heard. I think that's enough fun for today. Thanks for trying to make me feel better." you cut him off, seeing panic instead of surprise in his eyes. So his siblings knew everything... that's probably why Rebekah left without saying a word.

"No! Y/N, wait! You don't..." before he could say anything else, I ran out of there at vampire speed.

"Shit. Klaus is going to kill me." a man said to himself after she disappeared.

You've been so unavailable Now sadly I know why Your heart is unobtainable Even though Lord knows you kept mine

Honestly, you should have known it would end like this. From the beginning of your relationship, a swarm of girls followed him wherever he went. But then he only saw you.

"I don't like it here." I snorted, eyeing the werewolf bitch who had been fawning over Nik since the party started.

"Here or her, love? It may seem that one letter means nothing, but as you hear, it changes the whole meaning of your statement." the original snorted, throwing his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his possessive grip.

"None of them. Did we really have to throw this ball?" I complained, catching the lady werewolf leader's eye and kissing Mikaelson greedily to "mark my territory in front of that bitch." I pulled away from him as a smug smirk began to form on his lips, interfering with my ministry. "Why are you smiling like that? What's so funny?"

"For the first time, I see jealousy on your beautiful face. I have to admit it's a nice change."

"Please, as if half the women in the world aren't already trying to take you away from me. One puny wolf cub poses no threat to me, much less arouses my jealousy."

"Of course. So kiss me again. Just in case she somehow didn't get the message."

I snorted, pulling him to me by his necklace, and biting his lips to the blood. I licked my mouth as I climbed onto his lap and straddled him. I ran my hand through his hair and started leaving small kisses along the column of his throat.

"We're in public, love." he purred, wrapping one hand around my neck and pressing down gently. I growled, biting into his skin and taking a few gulps of his blood.

"And when exactly did it ever bother you?" I whispered, continuing to mark his skin. I smiled mischievously as I saw shivers run through his body.

The moment I felt his own fangs glide against my neck, I moved away from him at arm's length. I smiled victoriously at his annoyed look.

"What happened with being in public thing, love?"

"Who could resist such tempting beauty and strength? Definitely not me." he growled with a smirk, grabbing me bride-style and moving us with vampire speed to his room, specifically his bed.

"Elijah will be furious with us if we disappear again. Your werewolf friend is unlikely to be pleased with the lack of your wonderful presence either." I moaned as he started tearing off my dress.

"It's a good thing I don't care about any of them now. I'm yours. Only yours, my queen. And you're mine. And I will be proving it to you for always and forever."

You should know that one day you will fall from his pedestal.

You say I'm crazy Cause you don't think I know what you've done But when you call me baby I know I'm not the only one

I felt sad, to say the least. And a bit lonely.

For a month, Nik had become... colder, more distant. It started with us no longer having dinner together. Stupid observation, I know, but I couldn't help but miss his presence. He disappeared somewhere, fighting with the Salvatore brothers for Elena's blood. I understood his need to create a hyrbyds—someone like himself, his own pack that wouldn't leave him—but that didn't mean he had to do it alone. I could help him. I always helped him. However, my role began to be limited to guarding his hybrids and his sister.

Then he stopped writing to me. He could go all day without speaking to me, which was starting to worry me, so like any normal person, I decided to talk to my partner about my concerns. I just forgot that there is no such thing as normal between me and Niklaus.

"Love, don't you know how many things I have on my mind? If I had to write to you every second of every day, I would never have achieved what I have. Don't be a child who demands constant attention, you know that I love only you. There is no other woman whose arms I would rather return to every night."

I felt stupid. Like an oversensitive madwoman who needs to be in contact with her beloved 24 hours a day. But over time, he even stopped coming back to our bed, and if he did, it was so late that I had already fallen asleep. Sometimes the smell of his perfume left on his pillow was the only contact I had with him during the day.

So I made him a real jealousy scene. But that only made me feel worse than before.

"Y/N. My light and life, you know how much I care about you. If it were up to me, I would never leave our room or your delightful presence. But you can't reproach me or make unreasonable scenes of jealousy when all I'm doing is keeping our family safe. I thought you could go a few hours without my wonderful presence? Besides, do you think that when I'm away from you, I don't spend a second thinking about you? You are with me, in my mind and memory, always and everywhere, but I cannot let myself be distracted and forget about my main goals to succumb to your captivating beauty. I'd be lost in you forever, forgetting what I have to do."

He could make me feel real remorse, but subconsciously I felt that something was wrong with all of this and that he wasn't telling me the whole truth.

He adopted a different tactic. He gave me some of his responsibilities, which kept me busy for half the day. Not that I missed him any less.

My suspicions only increased after I discovered a large number of sketches by another woman, the same woman he'd invited to his mother's damn ball, in his art room. However, I decided not to do anything about it and wait for the situation to develop.

I was tired of hearing that I was crazy.

I have loved you for many years Maybe I am just not enough You've made me realise my deepest fear By lying and tearing us up

Maybe you've been crazy and still madly in love with a man who's clearly been using your love and sincere, blind devotion all this time, but that doesn't mean you'll watch him slowly give himself to another just to stay with him just a little longer. You still had some dignity.

Besides, you had to leave. You saw what Klaus did to people he no longer needed. If he was capable of disposing, compelling, and torturing his minions, what will he do with you, the woman who knows all his family's darkest secrets, when he no longer needs you?

You had to run as fast and as far as possible.

If you're lucky enough, you'll cross the US border before he realizes you're gone. Maybe you'd even join Katherine? She was always sending silly postcards and postcards from pretty places to encourage you to run away from the hybrid. Now seemed like the right time to join her on the journey of a lifetime.

Despite your rational, cool approach to the situation, you couldn't stop your stupid tears from spilling out of your eyes as you packed all the necessities into your suitcase.

It took you an hour to recover from seeing a 19th-century photo of you and the Mikaelson family. You did it in New Orleans, right after you took over the city completely. Marcel stood with a big smile, embracing an equally cheerful Rebekah from behind. Elijah was holding Kol by the shirt so he wouldn't accidentally pounce on the human-photographer, and you and Klaus stood side by side, staring at each other with so much love in their eyes. Your big diamond glistened on your finger under the light of the lamps.

When did it all go to hell?

You stuffed the photo frame into your suitcase and slammed it shut with a bang.

Before you went downstairs, you stopped by his art room for a moment. With a sigh, you took one last look at all the old portraits he had painted, and after finding a piece of paper, you left a message on his latest sketchbook dedicated to HER.

It was a fun few centuries together, Klaus. But I knew I would never be the only one for you. Love and hate, Y/N P.S. You can give her that.

The ring you've worn for 300 years laughed at you, glowing in the glow of the street lamps as you left him on the note.

Without thinking twice, you ran out of the house and loaded your bags into your car. You cast one last longing glance at the house before getting into your car.

You angrily wiped away the tears that kept you from seeing the road ahead.

You knew only one quick and effective way to get rid of your unwanted, desperate emotions, but would you be able to do it? Stop feeling anything?

On the other hand, what was stopping you from doing it? You had nothing and no one in this world anyway.

You say I'm crazy Cause you don't think I know what you've done But when you call me baby I know I'm not the only one

"Is he cheating on me?" Rebekah spat out the wine she was drinking in shock and started coughing. After she had relatively recovered, she started staring at me like I was crazy.

"What?"

"Your brother. Is he cheating on me?" I repeated, sipping my own wine and staring blankly at the fireplace.

"Nik?"

"No, Elijah." I snorted, tucking my legs under me.

"Are you crazy? If one thing is certain about my brother, it's that he loves you madly. What in the bloody hell made you think otherwise?"

"Let's see… he avoids me, spends his days with God knows where and with whom, and hired me as a personal babysitter for his hyrbyds and a searcher for new werewolf packs, of course, from a distance, because even though he treats this damn house like a hotel, he makes me stay in it like a ghost in a fucking crypt! I'm sick of this, Bekah. I know he's hiding something from me. Okay, he may have secrets and plans of his own that he doesn't want to tell anyone; he has done it before. But this time, he's crossing the fucking line." in my frantic speech, I didn't notice that I was swinging my glass from side to side, spilling its contents onto the couch. I sighed, not really caring. It's not like Klaus would notice. He would have to stay here for more than an hour first.

I staggered to the bar to pour myself another glass, but Bekah's gentle grip on mine stopped me.

"Maybe we've had enough of this wine, eh?" she asked thoughtfully, taking the glass from me and placing it on the bar. Seeing tears welling up in my eyes, she pulled me close to her and started stroking my hair reassuringly.

"What have I done wrong, Bekah? Why doesn't he love me anymore?" I asked, sobbing, letting myself let out all of the stress and helplessness I'd felt for months.

"Shh… it's okay, darling. Everything will come back to normal, trust me. Just be a little more patient."

"Rebekah! Y/N! There is a way to make Elena human again. We can have our hybrids back! Of course, we will have to modify our plans a bit. We can't have a repeat of what happened last time. Caroline told me… What happened, love? Are you crying?"

Klaus suddenly came back and walked over to where the two of us were cuddling. He looked at me clearly distressed, but he didn't seem to notice that my sobs only increased after hearing HER name fall out of his lips.

"It's nothing, Nik. We got a little drunk, and now we're more sensitive, aren't we?" Rebekah thought on the spur of the moment, stepping away from me. I just nodded my head, falling into the hybrid's open arms.

Ironically, the man who had driven me to this state was the only one who could comfort me in any way.

"I got you, love. Let's take you to our bedroom."

He took me in his arms, slowly carrying me upstairs. Along the way, I couldn't help but wonder if I was the only one he called "love"?

I know I'm not the only one I know I'm not the only one I know I'm not the only one

Third-person's POV

"KOL! How could you take her there?!" the hybrid screamed, throwing another bottle of scotch he found in sight at his brother.

Klaus found a note left by Y/N. So was their empty bedroom, stripped of her belongings. The lingering scent of her perfume was the only trace that she had once lived here.

And he was furious with his brother. The dagger and white oak powder were safely tucked away in his pocket, and he was just waiting for the right moment to punish his brother. He took you right into the middle of his plan to seduce Caroline to get the information he needed. Kol sat her in the goddamn, fucking front row so she could watch him fawning over another woman while Klaus was only thinking of getting this whole Mytsic Falls fiasco over as soon as possible and holed up somewhere with his love for a well-deserved holiday.

Now he couldn't.

She disappeared.

And he had an insatiable lust for murder. His brother will be in that bloody coffin, where he belongs, by tomorrow.

"I wasn't the one of us who came up with the brilliant plan of chasing some blonde while your girlfriend was pining for you, you criminal genius!!" Kol shouted back and threw one of his brother's paintings at him.

If he was going to die today, at least he would defend himself to the last breath. In fact, he knew the worst thing his brother would do was put him in that fucking coffin. Unless he can survive long enough until Elijah returns.

"You know perfectly well that I did it to protect her! She is an ordinary vampire; any stick can kill her! Thanks to my false interest in Caroline, I killed two birds with one stone. I kept Y/N safe and could extract the information I needed. But she wasn't supposed to know anything until we left together! AND BECAUSE OF YOU, SHE'S NOT HERE!" he growled, attacking his brother. He lunged at the younger vampire, pinning him to the ground and trying to pierce his heart with his dagger. Kol, however, tried to defend himself and did his best to keep the blade away from his chest.

"NO! Nik, wait! I can help you find her; we'll take her back to you; just don't do this to me! I can't come back to this coffin, please, brother!"

"You've done enough."

"NIKLAUS!" Kol breathed a sigh of relief as Elijah pushed their brother off him and snatched the dagger from his hand. "You have to calm down."

"Don't tell me what to do, and don't you dare take sides with this traitor! He brought Y/N there on purpose to destroy our relationship! You've always flirted with her, but if you think that's how you'll finally have her, you're sorely mistaken, brother." he spat out the last word with such revulsion that Kol flinched, beginning to feel a real fear of Klaus. "I'm going to burn this damn world to get to her and disprove all the lies you told her about my action."

"I never wanted her for me, she's like a sister to me." he choked out, trying to reason with the maddened hybrid. He had never seen him like this before. He must have really cared about Y/N if he was willing to tear the world apart just to find her.

"It is because of you and your actions that Y/N escaped, and now you must face the truth and accept the consequences of your actions, Niklaus. You can't blame Kol for that. Besides, I don't think Y/N approves of you daggering us again."

"So what am I supposed to do now? She ran away from me!"

"Calm down first and hide that ridiculous stake you're hiding behind your back; none of us is your enemy. We will find her. You have my word."

The hybrid growled something under its breath in agreement and left the room, presumably to hide the originals' doomsday weapons once again. Kol stood next to Elijah, staring at their brother's retreating figure.

"How the hell did he get it?"

"I don't know, but be glad I came on time. When it comes to Y/N, he's capable of doing a lot of things." he muttered, following the footsteps of the hybrid.

"Yes, but he wouldn't kill me, would he? Elijah?! Would he?!" panicked, he ran after his older brother, deciding that until they found Y/N he would stick to his suit jacket like his life depended on it. Which was actually true.

And I know, and I know, and I know, And I know, and I know, and I know, know I know I'm not the only one

Second-person's POV

You've been hiding with Katherine in her family home in Bulgaria for a month now. You honestly doubted it was safe to live in a place so important to her, with Klaus' minions and debtors looking for you all over the world, but you didn't question her methods. After all, she had been running from him for 500 years. She was more skilled than you.

In addition to visiting her hometown, going to various human events, and sunbathing in her garden, you spent your days reflecting on your relationship with Nik. The original left you at least 20 voicemails every day. You didn't complain about the lack of contact between the two of you. Sometimes you listened to part of them, sometimes they ended up in the trash, and sometimes Katherine took your phone so you wouldn't even think about picking up the call from your ex-lover.

But they all said the same thing: "I'll find you."

The vampire tried everything in her power to make you forget about him. However, dating, flirting, and sex escapades with people as drunk as you have not yielded any results. Besides, it ended when the news reported that one of these unfortunates had died with his head detached from the rest of his body. You two still have no idea how Klaus found out (because it was clearly his job), but you didn't want innocent people on your conscience, so Katherine stopped looking for new guys for you.

However, this particular incident was not repeated. None of your one-night stands have lost a life except this one. You guessed that Klaus, in his frustration (he must have had a really bloody day or something), sent you this kind of warning. Or maybe Caroline just successfully occupied him with something else, so he stopped threatening you.

You shuddered.

You couldn't think about him being with her like you two used to be. Not yet. Not when Katherine just turned your switch back on.

So instead, you went back to tending your garden. Even before you met Klaus, you had a weakness for growing flowers, exotic shrubs, and plants. Now you have more than enough time and space to get back into your hobby. And Katherine approved of everything you did, as long as it wasn't about Klaus. You could have sworn you'd seen her water some of your plants herself. And you could confidently say that you both love this place.

Your phone buzzed again today. Klaus. This time, instead of a voicemail, he sent you a text.

"Him again? Why don't we just burn this phone, dance around the fire, sing about how much we hate him, and buy you a new phone? Maybe with some handsome, charming man or woman bundled?"

"What if he finally gets tired of chasing after me and leaves me alone? How will I know if I change my number?"

"Very funny. Do you think Caroline will make him a saint?" I froze at those words, pausing before cutting a dead twig. "Fuck. I'm sorry, I didn't want to…"

"No, everything's fine. You're right. I should be able to function normally now and stop tensing up every time I hear one of their names."

"Well, after being with this maniac for 300 years, I believe you may still be experiencing harmful side effects."

"Hold." you threw her your phone. "Do what you want with it. I'm going to change clothes, and we'll have fun in the city. If I remember correctly, there's supposed to be some kind of mask festival there, right? So it's perfect for us."

"And that's the attitude I want to see!"

You smiled as you walked away from her, laughing, towards the house. Who knows? Maybe today you'll find the only one for you.

~•♤♤♤•~

"Hurry up! I want cotton candy!" you tried to shout over the crowd of people around you and grabbed the reluctant brunette by the hand, dragging her with you.

"You're acting like a child, but you're happy, so I'll forgive you this time."

"Come on. Just admit you like it."

"Yes, my dream was to go to the ferris wheel, ride bumper cars, and eat cotton candy with a 300-year-old vampire wearing a mask that prevented me from breathing or eating a normal human meal."

"See, I told you you'd like it." the brunette rolled her eyes, pulled your arm into a half-hug, and smirked mischievously. Oh no. Yoy knew that look.

"The hot brunette on the 4th has been staring at you ever since you got in that stupid line. Go and have fun, or I'll eat all your cotton candy."

"But Kath..."

"Don't "Kath" me! Get your ass over to him or I'll push you myself!"

"Terrorist." you snorted, taking her arm off you and walking over to the man who was staring at me.

If you were human, you wouldn't have approached him. He was at least... strange. He was standing in the shadows, leaning against one of the least frequented stalls. His mask covered his entire face, unlike the others; even part of his hair was hidden from people's eyes. Besides, Katherine must have gone blind in her old age. His hair wasn't brown; it was blonde. Dark blonde...

You shuddered. It couldn't be Niklaus. You must have been paranoid. If he had found us, he would have hit you without thinking. He wouldn't be lurking in the shadows for you; he'd get rid of the problem right away. You weren't naive; you knew too much for him to let you live.

But you couldn't shake the feeling of something familiar as you looked at the stranger.

"Hi, I'm Y/N. You have a very nice disguise." you smiled and extend your hand in greeting.

The stranger took your hand and put it to the golden metal mouth carved into his mask. Without knowing why, you shivered with excitement. You felt so weird. Like you've done something like this before.

And then that single, most important memory in your whole life reminded you why you should run away from a stranger as fast as you can.

You've already met him. At a masquerade ball, at your cousin's estate, the ones fucking 300 years ago wore the same fucking mask.

It was Klaus.

You were about to yank your hand out of his grip, but he pulled you closer, turning your back to his strong chest. He took three steps back, completely drowning both of you in the dark. He dropped his mask, pressed his hand over your mouth, preventing you from uttering a scream, and rested his chin against your shoulder, breathing deeply as he buried his nose in your hair.

Katherine will never find your dead body.

Your heart beats faster with each silent second.

"Hello, love. I think I finally caught you." under other circumstances, you would quiver with excitement as he whispered those words lewdly in your ear. Now that his love was located elsewhere, you were afraid of what he might come up with for you.

You trembled in his arms, waiting for his next step.

Instead of some sudden, no doubt painful move on his part that you were expecting, the original took off his coat and put it on you, making sure all the buttons were buttoned up.

You couldn't do anything but watch him in shock. You're sure if you weren't so tense and stressed, your jaw would have dropped to the floor instead of clenching nervously in anticipation.

"Let's take you home, love. We all missed you." he grabbed your hand, trying to lead you out of the festival.

"Won't you kill me?" the hybrid froze, slowly turning to face you. He cupped your cheek gently with his hand and looked at you with pure love and adoration in his eyes that more or less masked the sadness behind them.

What the fuck?

"The only person I want to kill right now is my little brother. You, love, are all that matters to me."

He cupped your lips in a passionate, longing kiss, entwining his hands in your hair. You moaned, giving in to the pleasant feeling of being close to his body. At one point, fireworks exploded around you, causing you to shudder slightly in surprise. However, Nik continued kissing you as if his life depended on it, with a small, happy smirk.

Wait a minute…

Realization has passed through your mind.

He didn't want to kill you.

He was looking for you because he missed you.

He loved you.

So he and that blonde monkey…

You pulled away from him, slapping him across the cheek. He sighed, rubbing the slightly sore spot.

"I admit, I deserved it…"

"What the hell were you doing with Caroline?! You think you can play with her behind my back and come for me after a month like nothing ever happened?! You're in so much fucking trouble… why the hell are you smiling?!" you shouted as you saw a satisfied, blissful, even grateful smile form on his face.

He must have gone completely insane this month without you.

"You have no idea…" he paused, reaching for you to pull out a small velvet box from the pocket of his coat and open it to reveal your ring. "How much I missed you."

"Don't even think that after all this, I'm just jumping into your arms. You must have been up to some stupid plan of yours, AGAIN, that involved that bitch and instead of telling me anything, AGAIN, you decided to do everything yourself and got so involved that you forgot about everything else, AGAIN?"

"Maybe?" he glanced at you, embarrassed, fiddling nervously with the ring box in his hands.

"God. You're lucky, I love you." you growled, taking the ring from him and putting it on your finger, then pulling him to yourself and kissing him hungrily, trying to make up for those lost (BECAUSE OF HIM) weeks.

He moaned into your lips, willingly committing to return your kiss. You pulled away from him before it turned into a full, hot makeup session between the two of you.

"I have to go back to Katherine's for my stuff. I'll text you when and where we'll meet."

"I will go with you…"

"NO! I will not expose Katherine to you. I'd been waiting for you for months in a cold, empty bed. I believe that you will last a few hours without me."

"Hours?"

"You wanna change it into days?" you asked, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

"No. I'll wait for you." he replied quickly, not wanting to part with you for longer than it necessary.

"Perfect." you gave him a quick goodbye kiss and ran back to Katherine.

Well, maybe you were the only one after all. - you thought with a smile, fiddling with the ring that was adorning your finger again.

[reasonsmandy]

It's just me, you and the sea.

Warren Rojas x Fem!Reader

✧.* requested by anon — Hey there love! I got this idea: The reader is a director, especially music videoclips, she is Billy and Graham's sister (or not, your choice). When she's working, she is very professional, very confident too, but outside of work, she's a little more insecure, shy, and quiet, and Warren just loses his mind for her. He loves to make her nervous, especially because when he tries to flirt with her on sets, she just doesn't play along, you know. BUT, she thinks he's only messing with her. I also got this "vision" in mind of them talking at a party while she writes (because of course she kind of wants to be a movie director one day too). You can use it if you like😊 You can choose how it ends (hopefully a happy ending...? 😂)

✧.* summary — Your work has always been something that made you proud and happy and when you joined to serve the most famous band of the moment it was no different. The difference was the look he made you have over everything in just one rainy afternoon.

✧.* warnings — none.

✧.* word count — 3.3k

✧.* 🥁 — warren's masterlist

✧.* mandy's notes — I promised I'd come back and here I am, how are you? So, I know you suggested a party but I wanted to change the scene a bit, I hope you like it. Good reading 🫶🏾

The red lights adorned you along with the heat, you would hang the still-soaked revealed images on the strings while you thought about the next projects to come and how you would do them. The bedroom door opens catching your attention, you turn to see the figure of a brunette woman with her own series of images to reveal, you greet her with a smile and she takes a stand by your side.

Despite being an implicit rule in those environments where the art of photography should be admired, and that's what she did by looking at your photos hanging there.

“They are really beautiful.” You can hear the sincerity in her voice and it brings you comfort that pushes away your shyness.

“Thanks…” You release the last clip, and look at all the pictures with pride. “I'm more into filming but…for the first time with photos it wasn't bad, was it?”

“Not bad at all, they are amazing.” She points out. “You said you work with filming?” She asks the question expecting you to craft a conversation with her.

“Yeah, yes I've been working with filming for a while now. I started with some short films but now I'm making video clips. But I want something bigger, maybe to be a movie director someday.” You explain and she looks genuinely interested, you deduce this is a gift from her just from the minutes you spend together.

“Oh that sounds amazing.” She says now putting her pictures next to yours. “My husband is in a band, you know?”

“Really? Is it him in this picture?”

Camila nods, you tap your forehead turning to her.

“I'm sorry for being rude, my name is Y/N and yours?”

“I'm Camila.” She says, opening a majestic smile. “You should stop by the house sometime, I'd love to see your work. I'm sure my husband's band would love to have you record something for them.”

…

Warren was the last to sit down at the table, which automatically made him take everyone's subject in half. He bites the chicken wing while watching each of his friends trying to understand, effortlessly he lets himself be carried away in the observation.

“Cami, you can’t make compromises for us like that.” Billy says through a sigh, leaning his body back against the chair. “And it's even more complicated now that Daisy has to agree to everything before we do anything as a band.”

Camila tries not to show how the comment had upset her.

“Look, I know it can be tricky, but I understand that. Her work is really cool, it suits you. And who better to know that than me?” She jokes, eliciting a genuine smile from Eddie and Karen.

“I think it's worth a try” Karen says.

“It won't hurt anyone if we give it a chance." Eddie shrugs, with a smile. “And I trust your gut.”

“Sorry if I'm too high, but what the fuck are we talking about?” Warren interrupts, capturing everyone's attention.

Camila explains to him how he met you and her idea to make a music video for the band with her ideas and her direction, he instantly gets excited with the thought and volunteers to help Camila with whatever she needed and to help Billy convince Daisy too.

It wasn't difficult to get Jones to agree with the idea, the label also thought it was wonderful and soon the idea of the clip being released along with the tour dates was their great marketing strategy. The chosen song was 'Let Me Down Easy' by everyone's vote and the final touch was to look for you again to adjust the creative ideas and the budget of the project.

You knock three times on the door of Billy and Camila's house and wait for someone to answer you. The things in your bag were hanging while you felt the cool breeze against your body. The door is opened and your gaze lifts to see Rojas' curls and his eyes that smile at you, you straighten your body looking professional waiting for him to say something.

“You must be Y/N” His warm voice says, opening the door for you to enter. “Make yourself at home, if you want a beer or a cigarette we have everything outside.” He approaches you, as if to tell you a secret. “We don't keep any of that around Jules.”

You laugh at how excited he was, following him out of the house where everyone was gathered. Everyone's eyes on you make you a little uncomfortable but the drummer's hand on your shoulder brings you minimal comfort.

“The little star has arrived.” Warren makes sure to announce you, You frown at the nickname but smile small at the same time.

“It's so good to see you.” Camila comes to hug you tight. “Guys, this is Y/N… Y/N, This is Graham, Karen, Daisy, Billy and of course Warren that you met already. I'll let you guys talk about the clip and stay with Jules inside, if you need me just call.”

She approaches Billy and kisses him before walking through the doors of the house.

“So, do you have requirements for this project?” You say opening your notepad, ready to write whatever they were going to suggest.

They look at each other, you can see out of the corner of their eyes that they're waiting for someone to say something.

“Would you rather it be a clip of you performing with a story told through the music?” You drop another question, seeing that no one has said anything.

“Us playing is a pretty cool idea.” Billy seemed inclined to this suggestion but at the same time as his agreement was said Daisy's expression is one of denial.

“You know this is a song full of history, it would be perfect for us to show a story to our audience in it. After all, to see us playing they go to the show. We should do something new.”

“I kinda agree.” Eddie says, leaning his body back. “We can innovate with some storytelling.”

Billy frowned, you could see he didn't like to be crossed.

“Maybe we can mix the two ideas?” Graham suggests, you write it down.

“Don't worry Cariño, you'll get used to it eventually.”

You turn to him smiling a little embarrassed by the nickname, you close your notebook, leaning in to observe the band better.

“Well, I think we could mix the two ideas but... If my opinion as a professional is relevant, Daisy has a point.” You looked more at Warren while he spoke, for some reason he gave you confidence. “Nobody watches a clip with just the band playing, not the whole clip at least, you know?”

“So what do you suggest?” Billy says grumpy.

“I think we can use you as characters, telling the story of the song, so the audience gets to know the band members and focus on the lyrics through that story.”

“You're awesome.” Warren whispers in your ear, you open a small smile.

“You want us to act?” Graham asks.

“If it's not difficult for you, we can leave it enigmatic too. Obviously there will be no lines, what do you think of us doing a script?”

“Mi Alma, Maybe I'm being a little dumb but why script it if we don't have lines?” Warren asks.

“It would be a script for us to align what we are going to do, who will be the role, what story we will tell. This kind of thing.”

“Got It, keep going hermosa.”

“I like you!" Daisy utters, giving you a captivating smile. “I think we can start working on that, everyone agrees?”

Everyone agrees, even Billy, which is surprising.

“I can start working then, amazing, call me in two days.” You pack your things in your bag, looking at them one more time as a second check. “Any other requirements?”

Nobody answers you, so you take your work there for granted. Getting up to leave.

“Wait, I'll walk you to the door.” Warren is quick to follow you.

Upon entering the house again, her body warms up more because it is abandoned by the breeze outside, Camila, who was in the living room playing with Julia, is quick to get up with the toddler in her arms to say goodbye.

“How was it? Everything worked out?” She asks, Julia playing with her hair.

“Yeah, I'm full of ideas.” You answer excitedly, unconsciously sticking your purse to your body.

“She is a genius, Cami.” Warren says.

“You haven’t even seen my ideas yet.” You laugh, watching him with a smirk on your face.

“Tell me then.” You are taken aback by his answer, you didn't expect his interest to be so lasting. “I really want to know.”

You don't know how to respond, you look at Camila as a question, a request for help perhaps. She opens a smirk, you regret your choice instantly.

“There's a quiet beach nearby, I think you might like it.” Camila suggests, you arch your eyebrows. The corner of your eye going to Warren. “Maybe Warren is free to…”

“I am, I'm totally free.” He responds so fast that you can't help but laugh a little. “Are you up for it, tesoro?”

Camila nods, as if asking you to trust her.

“Okay, take me there.”

…

Warren's van stops a little away from the sand, on a cloudy day you knew the beach would be empty or at least with few people. You open the passenger seat window on the way in, aiming to feel the breeze on your face as a way to let go of the anxiety of the moment. Warren drove there, watching your movements in detail, just amazed by you.

The engine cuts off and then he turns to you, waiting for what you were going to do next. You after a while turn from the window to observe the curly haired man.

“So, tell me more about yourself, nena.” He says, you lean closer to him but not too much.

“Well, it's been a while since I moved here.I'm passionate about filming and directing, I've been producing my own thing but.” You give up talking, ashamed, few were the people who saw that potential in you.

“Really?” His eyes sparkle with excitement, you feel your heart race. “Damn it mami, is there anything you don’t do?”

“Lots of things actually Rojas, what's up with the nicknames, uh?” Your body leaning back against the bench was what he admired.

“They suit you.” He shrugs, adjusting his curls. “Now come on, let's go for a swim.”

He expected you to deny the suggestion, but you just open the van door and run across the sand. He flashes a gigantic smile and is quick to chase after you.

The closer you got to the sand, the more adrenaline was the essential boost to give you the courage to enter the icy waters. But that didn't seem to bother you at the time, you take your shirt off and leave it on the nearest rock before letting the water wet your skin.

“Come on, did you give up?” You yell at him, and he hurries to meet you there.

“Never, princesa.”

After a while in the water, you return to the sand, walking together to the most comfortable rocks to sit together. He helps you up, and you sit watching the clouds darken as the wind picks up, you hug your body trying to avoid the cold but the idea is without purpose and conclusion.

“That was so fun.” He says a little breathless.

“Yeah it was.” You agree, smiling at him. “But it's getting so cold…” Her voice came out shaky from the weather.

“Let's go to the van.” He helps you get up and guides you to the vehicle, and as the weather is waiting for you to leave, the rain starts to fall.

When you get into the van the adrenaline is still in you, Warren closes the windows so he can make the environment warmer for you, while the silence was comfort for both of you. He turns to you.

“I can drop you home now if you want.” he says, wishing your response was the opposite.

“I actually don't.” You say, taking your notebook off your bag. “I had so many ideas for your clip.”

“Meaning?” He asks, feeling happy to witness your explosion of creativity.

“Meaning I'll stay in your car until I finish my script.” You say poking the tip of his nose with the pencil. “I'm sorry… I don't want to take up your whole night.”

“Are you kidding me?” He speaks excitedly, turning completely towards you to see you better. “I'm so ready for this!”

“You want to participate?” Surprised, you question, unable to contain your smile.

“Of course I want, tell me, what do you need?” He says, ready to start the van engine.

“I mean, I could eat” You shrug, very happy to have more time with him.

“So that's it cariño, We're getting food and then spending the rest of the necessary time in this van working together!”

He drives for as long as he can on the road near the waterfront, a request from you, that you keep your creativity. The rain was still falling, making a steady pattern against the window, which strangely helped you to concentrate which he quickly notes, finding it adorable. After getting your food he brings you back to the same beach, you can't stop thinking about how much gas he was wasting, which made you laugh.

“You know, now I can say with absolute certainty that you are amazing.” Warren says after a long silence, the water droplets are now falling unevenly. You turn to him, closing the notebook.

“Again Rojas, you haven't seen anything yet.” You sigh, laying your head on his shoulder. “I don't know if I'm doing a good job anyway.”

“Can I see what you have ready?” He asks gently, reaching out to take his notebook.

Every second he read it was more torturous for you, so you focus on the water for a bit hoping his calmness will help your heart to do the same.

“This is amazing, really, you are a volcano of creativity.”

You chuckle, rolling your eyes. “No need to exaggerate, but that was the funniest compliment I've ever received.”

“I'm not exaggerating, I'm great with it. They will love it, trust me.” He strokes her hair, kissing the top of her head. “I've known them forever, and I know this is going to turn out spectacular.

“I don't know why I'm being insecure about this job…” You whisper, still lying on his shoulder.

“I don't want to screw this up or let Cami down

...”

You don't finish the sentence, you leave what you were thinking in the air

“Look mi cielo, the sun is rising... How about we walk along the shore together? While we think about the end of this script?”

You break into a huge smile “Did you by any chance come out of a romantic comedy?”

“That's where you go wrong, I'm a mix of all kinds of movies.” He takes turns when he notices that the rain was now just more water in the distant sea. He opens the door going to the beach again, you notice that this time he leaves his shoes in the van, his vest still wet was there too.

You shake your head at the person he is, how he made everything seem simple and light, you see him waiting for you on the sand and open the door without hesitation. Going towards him little by little, for Rojas it was like watching a work in motion, beauty and calm was what you meant to him every minute more together with you.

He brings his hands to your waist, and you automatically tuck yours around his neck, closely watching his every expression.He smiles, pulling you close in a hug, you feel welcomed like you haven't felt in a long time, he pulls away to guide you along the shore as promised.

“Hermosa…” He calls you, and you notice only now that you got so used to all the nicknames he gave you. “I would like to know more about that project of yours that you mentioned earlier.”

Your body freezes, you turn to him looking for any hint of irony or joke, there is none. He just smiled, happy and curious about everything that his person was involved in.

“I don't have a lot ready, but I wanted something more thought out before starting any recordings.” You talk by walking with your feet dragging instead of lifting them when you step. “But basically it's the story of an incomplete romance, which never worked out in the past, but due to a certain event they meet again.But there's a reason why this romance didn't work out, and I want to show that as my story goes on, making my audience figure it out at the climax and ultimately resolve the conflict. Of course it's not just about the romance, there are supporting characters and other characters I want to elaborate on, but this is what I have ready.”

“I would watch this for sure.” You knew that Golden retriever impersonation wasn't lying to you. “I would love to see everything you're doing, like, see the things you have ready and maybe inspire you to put a beautiful drummer character in it.”

“Do you want to be my muse Rojas?” You speak with a smirk on your face, he licks his lips and then smiles at you, the tension between you two growing.

“Maybe I want to cariño.” He whisper, getting closer to you, the light was still weak because the sun was rising slowly, your clothes were still relatively cold due to the adventure they had in diving the waters earlier, when his hands slowly go to your waist over the shorts you were wearing, your body shivers visibly.

Warren notices, and pulls away a little afraid he's crossed a line with you. You take his hands as he pulls away, placing them back on your waist. Slowly you lift your hands from his neck to the nape of his neck, stroking the wet curls tenderly.

“I want you to be, but not only that…” You say shyly, your gaze momentarily going to waves. “Whatever this is here, this connection, I want us to continue. Like, seeing each other even after the clip is done.”

“You can be sure this will happen.” He reassures you, kissing your forehead.

You pull back after the cuddle to look him in the eyes, and stare at the drummer's lips. You take a deep breath and pull him close to you, kissing his lips gently and slowly. Feeling the fireworks in his stomach explode with each touch, he pulls you closer to feel his body more, caressing your waist as he feels your fingers play with his locks. You've never had such an incredible work experience.

He wraps his arms around your waist tighter and lifts you up, you start laughing as you ask him over and over again what he was doing, he guides you once again to the waters where you watch together as the sun takes over the sun and gradually warms your skin, you play and have fun for a time that you don't see go by and you didn't want to.

“Won’t the others be worried about your disappearance?” You ask, hugging him like the waters hugged you. The crystal clear water showed you how beautiful your bodies were together.

“I don't care, I want to stay with you a little longer." He confesses, making you roll your eyes with a smile. He kisses you one more time, not caring about anything around her. “Don't worry about anything else, it's just me, you and the sea.”

...

Hi, I hope you enjoyed it... If you wanted to ask for something my requests are open, and if you want to ask and don't have any ideas check out my prompt list :) xoxo

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[anulithots]

Hello, can I ask from this ask game :

https://www.tumblr.com/threecheersforinking/677824836625694720/anime-ask-game?source=share

For these series : JJK, TMNT, and Link Click ?

Thanks 🌻

(my post got wiped and I cry)

Thank you for the ask! I'll answer in order... although note that I have suuuchhh a hard time picking favorites for things/shows I like, but I shall try my best!

Jujutsu Kaisen

Favorite Character: Itadori yuji. One of the best written protagonists of all time. I love how he takes the 'wants to save everyone' trope and gives it the underlying reasoning of the avoidance of regret and grief, and the desire to not die alone because so far he has been alone (for whatever reason, I see it as because he was 'too nice' and would beat up the 'popular bullies'. Hence why he called himself a loner and hence why he became so attached to Nobara and Fushiguro despite the little time he's known them.) Also how this underlying narrative is tested and builds more nuance and flaws as the series goes on... overall Yuji's arc up until the Shibuya incident is very well done. (I have... mixed feelings post Shibuya and honestly would need to reread that whole arc)

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: Honestly.... the cursed womb arc. I know, I know, there's the hidden inventory and the shibuya incident and Maki's massacre of her family and the Gojo vs Sukuna fight... but hear me out. My favorite parts of storytelling are theme exploration, and I think this arc does it for Yuji's underlying motivations to save everyone. This arc builds nuance to this part of Yuji's character, contrasting his ideals with Fushiguro's logic: 'what if someone you save hurts other people in the future'. How Yuji then takes this upon himself, how the narrative says that perhaps the better option would've been to kill Yuji in the first chapter, how Fushiguro denies this and it gives Yuji hope for himself, has always given him hope, and always will. (So he has to save Megumi. I'm willing it into existence. Gege make it happen.)

Character I Think is Underrated: Yuji. Yuta. Maki. Mai. Mechamaru. Miwa. Shoko. Nobara. Fushiguro. ... most JJK characters honestly. There are a few characters that get the most attention from the fandom (they know who), and while they are AMAZING characters who DESERVE the attention they get... so does everyone else. Yuji is one of the most amazinggg protagonists I've ever seeeen and yet he gets little to no analysis and I got burnt out just before I could make a full analysis about him so yea I'm a hypocrite when I say this. But still. More attention to the rest of the cast please. Thank you <3

Character I Think is Overrated: I KNOW HE"S WELL WRITTEN AND A REALLY NUANCED AND INTERESTING CHARACTER WHO EMBODIES THE THEMES BUT.... Gojo Satoru, the fandom treats you as the best character in the animanga despite you're very character being about the desire to be treated as an individual like everyone else. And to be clear, I'm not saying that we should love Gojo less, far from it, I'm saying we should love the other characters more.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: (Note that I prefer dynamics to shipping although I do like shipping. I also tend to love shipping queer platonically and rave about dynamics and interactions) A tie between Satosugu and Itafushi (they parallel each other so how could I not love both of their dynamics?).. although I'm quite fond of Itadori x Junpei. They could've been the 'movie nerd duo' and they would've had the best moral parallels, especially when you consider Mahito and how they were treated (one was bullied and the other tries to fight against bullies) and how they see grief and kaljfalksdfklasdjf it would've been wonderous. I also think Yuta and Yuji are an underutilized dynamic (not shipping them). I would've loved to see more interactions and comparisons between them. IT WOULD"VE BEEN SOOO COOL I WOULD"VE BEEN OBSESSSED.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: Each character has such nuance and embodies a section of the themes about Jujutsu society and how that effects the morals of an individual, and each character is nuanced and honestly the recent arcs do not fall short because of the characters, but because of the underutilization and pacing more so. Quite sad but when Jujutsu Kaisen shines it SHINES.

... I feel like these were supposed to be one sentence answers but it's fine... ONE DOWN TWO TO GO!

Tmnt (I've only seen Rottmnt so we're doing that one)

Favorite Character: DONATELLO (with a book in hand, saves the day and proves to everyone that he's the ma-). Okay but seriously he's portrayed as a character that cares in his own way in a POSITIVE LIGHT. Soooo many other shows would've taken his basic character and showcased it as selfish but Donnie is far from that. He likes his alone time and has a creative and analytical mind and interprets the world through his creations and interests and that is A GOOD THING THAT HE DOES NOT HAVE TO CHANGE. As a fellow creative an analytical mind that interprets the world through my interests and has been told I'm selfish and self-obsessed, Donnie means so much to me. (Yes, he's my #1 kin)

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: kjalfkljasdkfj OKAY OKAY.... I forget the name of it but the episode where Splinter takes Donnie's turtle tank to the demolition derby. I know I had another favorite episode(s) when I was in full hyperfixation, but to be honest it's been a while. My favorite episodes are the Donnie-centric ones (obviously), especially when he's with Mikey because that duo is ✨peak✨. But for the demolition derby episode, I think it provides a great view into Splinter's psyche as chasing the high of his prime, along with Donnie's desire for his dad to be proud of him. (I kin, I kin, I kin so much.) Also Mikey being the level-headed one in this situation. Absolute peak.

Character I Think is Underrated: Raph for sure. He's the sweetest older brother ever with just as much character nuance as the other three, and yet he gets the least amount of attention from the fandom as far as I've seen. (Again I'm a hypocrite for saying this but I do think Raph deserves more love.) Also April.. Casey... GAhhhhh I wish Rise got a season threeeee it would've been wonderous.

Character I Think is Overrated: I don't think any of the characters are necessarily overrated. I don't understand why everyone loves the disaster twins so much. (I feel like you could make them more 'disaster' if you have them bicker and cause issues rather than all of the 'they are each other's favorite person' that the fandom does. HOWEVER, I love the fandom interpretations of them, and overall, I love the rottmnt fandom a LOT, best fanfics and fanart and fancomics everrr)

Favorite Ship/Pairing: (not shipping/no tcest) Donnie and Mikey for sureee. It's the perfect combination of overdramatic mad scientist /aff with silly crazy-powerful artist /aff. What's not to love? Also the way that they contrast with each other, opposites yet similar, it's wonderous.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: It's what got me into loving slice-of-life/episodic narratives, and what got me to release my 'every story needs to have only important scenes with conflict' mindset when it comes to storytelling. Rottmnt is mainly the brothers hanging out with each other and going on the odd adventure and it's wonderous. It's amazing storytelling because it differs from the predecessor's saving the world. It's silly and jovial and feels like siblings having fun with each other. AND YES I have three other siblings and we've been socially isolated for the longest time because of multiple mowings (pre-covid) and covid (made it no better) and our family in general being undiagnosed neurodivergent introverts and rottmnt means a loooot to me for what it is and what it offered to me. I was in one of the longest spirals of my life at the time and rottmnt brought back color to my monochromatic life and IT SHOULD GET A SEASON THREE BRING BACK RISE KAJFLSKDJFKLd

ANd yet again.. Noorie has rambled. Noorie will ramble again, here we go:

Link Click

(I started scrolling on the link click gifs and the musical is sooo cuttee i love all their interactions akfaskldfj)

Also note this is my most recent hyperfixation and it usually takes me about a month or two to have the most fleshed out thoughts but I shall try!

Favorite Character: You. can't. do. this. to. me. /pos KLJDKLFJSDKLJFKLDJF HOWWW DO I DECIDEEEEE NOO. KAS FAHHSHF. Okie okie er... Cheng Xiaoshi. I still have to dissect and analyze him but he's just SUCH a good character. The way his backstory is revealed bit by bit until the end of season one where we get his full flashback scene is sooo interestingg and effectiveee AAA- Plus the way he's overwhelmed with emotions easily, how easily he trusts others, even more than he trusts himself, how he seems to be 'just a little silly', and he is silly, but when given time to process his thoughts and emotions, he is quite strategic and effective at adapting his plans to the situation. (Which is especially interesting in how that contrasts Lu Guang's need to have control over everything, the general inflexibility of his plans). Also how Cheng Xiaoshi teases Lu Guang and how much he loves and clings to those he loves. How much he wishes for his parents to return and how much hope he has that he can save everyone/bring everyone together and keep them from leaving him again. THERE'S SO MANY LAYYERRRS I NEED TO DECIPHER THEM ALLL

Favorite Arc/Episode/Scene: howwww dooo I deciddeee it's alll dooonee sooo weelll. Nott a singgllllee baddd orrr borrinngg eppiisoddeee I sobbbbb I can't pick a favoritteeee. ... OKay this might be because I just finished watching episode five, but that whole arc (episodes 3-5) is done so well and starts off with a silly basketball game that gives more information on Lu Guang and CHeng Xiaoshi's relationship and slowly builds to the earthquake and the most devastating backstory to present day scenes I've ever seen for a character. From a storytelling perspective Link Click is just so well done all around and this arc exemplifies that. I also loveee any moments of Cheng Xiaoshi and Qiao LIng being siblings. Also, QIao Ling slapping Qian Jin and just season twooo is crazzzyyyyy. I can't pick on whether I love season two or season one more despite them having two different narrative structures... I just remember season one more because it's episodic and I have it downloaded on my computer. (It was on internet archive... and it would be NICE if season two was on there toooo)

Character I Think is Underrated: Honestly, all characters are given lots of love and attention for the amount of screentime they get. Qiao Ling could always use more love though. Qiao Ling supremacy.

Character I Think is Overrated: None really. The fandom is really nice and really good at art and writing and the ANALYSIS HOLY HERBS *sparkle eyes*. It's all wonderous and I love Link Click soooo muuuuchhhh

Favorite Ship/Pairing: Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang are literally queer platonic partners in cannon. /half joking but for real the act like queer platonic partners. With all the making noodles and dumplings for each other and the constant reassurances and canonical cuddling (they held hands in season two aklfjasdklf) plus how much they canonically care for each other. I rambled about that on another ask but they have constant shows of affection and how much they tease each other and they are probably my favorite pairing everrr. ALSO Cheng Xiaoshi and Qiao Ling as siblings (not shipped) are peak fiction. They have the most bickering yet reassuring dynamic ever. Part of the reason why I like that season two has less dives is that it gives QIao Ling more screen time and really makes her part of the trio. The backstory with them both means everything to me. It's so sweet and saddd I sobbb.

Something I Love About the Show/Movie: Literally what's not to love? APPARENTLY THERE'S A GAZILLION AND ONE MEDIUMS, NOT JUST THE SHOW and they're all amazing??? I want the adaptation of the donghua into the manhua sooo baddd. The pacing is done to perfection, never once was I bored. The 20-minute episodes felt like five minutes while still covering so much ground and giving each character the time they deserve to develop them (although Lu Guang... where's the backstory..../pos /j). It perfectly balances humor and silly interactions between the characters with ripping your heart out and making you ugly cry. THe cliffhangers are never annoying and the SOUNDTRACK. THE FRICKING SOUNDTRACK IS WONDEROUS I SANG VORTEX ON REPEAT TO CALM MYSELF FROM PANICING AT MY STATS AP EXAM. The animation is sooo cozy and well done and I want to live in their shop and use my non-existent money to buy as much Link Click things as possible.

Annnddd THat's it! Thank you for the ask! If you've read all the way up to here... I commend you. That's a feat in and of itself.

[wherewolfwasteland]

Apollo justice + some dual destinies (ace attorney spoilers and rant !!!)

I've cleared the game a little while ago and while there was some aspects i liked,overall I was very mixed . First of all I love phoenix and his character change , it makes things interesting and I don't mind that he just goes back to himself later in the game . I also really like ema skye and how despite her talent she didn't make it into the job she wanted , it's realistic and gives her even more character growth . The soundtrack and animations were beautiful as well and the first case was one of my favourite first cases (tied with the first case of trials and tribulations)

Now for the things i didn't like (there's a lot unfortunately)

- apollo justice: first of all I won't be the first or last person to say he was a side character in his OWN GAME but that's not all that I don't like about him . First of all it really annoys me when he points out people's nervous traits every single time. I understood the first time since it was new to the player but everytime after that? Its cringe . I'm sorry but if I were a witness and the defence attorney told me that I was playing with my hands when I was nervous or something , I'd make a conscious effort to stop doing it . Uggghhh so cringe . It makes all of the witnesses look stupid af . Another thing i don't like about him is how little we actually learn about him . I like how he deals with his own trauma (pushing it away) and even in dual destinies going his own path was very interesting. But his inner monologue was very lacking in personality or anything really. Honestly it sucks because I do like him as a base character but the fandom definitely made me like him, and gave him more characterisation then those two games ever did .

Trucy : don't get me wrong , she has her great moments and she's super cute (I do love her overall) but I have some issues as well . First of all I hate the fact they made her super pale , there are no black characters in ace attorney , and even though I understand her not being black , she could have been tanned like her father. I don't wanna hear no "ace attorney is made in Japan so no black people" bullshit. This game isn't very realistic in the slightest so when people use that as an excuse for lack of diversity it annoys me so much ! And one more thing I don't like about trucy is that she is used as a panties joke wayyyyyy tooooo muccchhhhh , I'm sick of the panties !!!! Give it a resttttttttttttt . Ah I do love her lots and lots though . Okay okay moving on .

Klavier : and this is going to piss people offfff i know!! Bur he is just really really boring!! Which is so unfortunate because he had all of the makings to be great . He's in a band (that's awesome!) And he has great charisma and presence. But over the game when though so much happens to him he just brushes it all off, and not in a pushing away his trauma like apollo way either. It's always going to be harder to portray a character the player doesn't get to play since we can't hear his inner monologue (which would have been so cool) but still - I mean his best friend / band mate and his own brother both turn out to be murderers and he literally does not care in the slightest . Don't even get me started on how weird he is in aa5 . Also the fact that he was supposed to be your rival throughout the game and he really wasn't at all made going against him boring too . Don't get me wrong, going into a case I already know I'm winning , but in this game I knew I was winning if you get me . Other then the huge lost potential with him, I do think he is interesting, unfortunately mostly in fanon .

Kristoph: I mean I really really liked him as a villain I did ! But it was all too soon. This man had no real motive at the end of the day and he was gone before I even cared enough about him. He was apollos mentor and klaviers brother and he could have been given so much hype before the twist but no , first case and I'm over him . I don't even care he forged the evidence at that point . I knew he was evil. Also they should have made him go all out ! Like kidnap trucy at the end ! Go completely nuts !!! Especially since he has those 5 black locks , he could have been one of the greats .

Others : now there was other small things I liked and didn't like , overall I am happy that I played the game , I like the added characters despite their flaws and I like how they expanded their powers and stuff . I know some people don't like the fantasy elements but I like them a lot . I think it can add fun gameplay and stuff so yeah!!

Lastly here is somethings I would have done to change and improve the story (this is my opinion . I'm a meer fan with no writing experience so take this with a grain of salt)

Firstly I would have had kristoph be apollos mentor throughout the game until the last case . This way we grow attached to him as apollo but also it would give klavier someone to bounce off of . If he was going to be nice to apollo maybe he could have disliked his brother and been mean to him in the court (kristoph being mean back of course ) or they could have had that strange love hate siblings rivalry going on . It would give us a chance to really get more out of klavier. Kristoph (him manipulating apollo making us even madder at the end when we figured it out) and apollo , finding it hard to trust phoenix at first and growing to trust him later in dual destinies (until the last case where he departs the agency and yeah we all know what happens) . It could have been such great insightful character development.

Like imagine , this mentor has been by your side the whole game , helping you win ! Boosting you up (to make his brother look bad but you don't know that. Oh and also to be a better attorney than wright in a way , I like the idea of him hating phoenix and wanting to best him (so giving him the forged evidence) just not in the way it was done. I want him to really hate phoenix for phoenix and not because some guy chose phoenix over him once) anyways. This guy, you grow to trust him , even defend him against his brother even though the brother is being sweet to you, no way would your mentor be awful ! He's definitely lying . (He's not lying) and yeah the final case, he kills trucys father or he could even kill trucys father at the first case and produces forged evidence so that he gets off free !! Could be interesting and would have no effect on apollo since kristoph would be the one to forge it . Anyways either way . He kills trucys dad, forges wrights evidence , maybe even forges his own . He kills another person and also gets desperate as he realises that phoenix is onto him (he's kinda desperate but also thinks phoenix can't really get him since he's barred) , he kidnaps trucy because she has been too close to his crimes and then as apollo you are trying to solve the murder, find trucys kidnapper and discover the culprit behind the forgery all along . You slowly piece together that it was your mentor who had lied and manipulated you (apollo) this whole time and you can't believe it . (Heck klavier can't even believe it ! He knew his brother was awful but he never would suspect that ) kristoph is sent to prison , trucy is saved , phoenix is dropped of his forgery allegations , the person who got a guilty from the first case is set free ( if they decided to have kristoph produces forged evidence then) and apollo and klavier sit down. Get a drink maybe some food . And they bond over their shared trauma and hurt . Leading them to be best friends in aa5

Other thoughts :

The gameplay was great in apollo justice (not so much in dual destinies tbh) so I definitely would have kept that the same with less flashbacks , telling me what to do too much and the whole apollo telling people their nervous traits .

Next the story of trucy and apollos parents (mother especially ) was very very very very messy . Idk how to fix that jdjskskskx also it's just gone after this ?? Phoenix doesn't tell them and their mother also doesn't care about them ?? Also also another thing I want to mention ! I wish trucy didn't have the same power as apollo . I know his is stronger because of the bracelet but still . It cheapens his abilities because they aren't special at all . Like I feel that pearl and maya , even though had similar abilities were both useful in their own way but in apollos case sometimes it really seems as if trucy is better than him at his own ability idk . I would have definitely made it so she didn't have that ability.

Okay okay I'm rambling at this point ,I really am but ugh so many thoughts in my adhd brain that won't shut up (so I'm sorry if this is messy) but yeah I do want to say again I do love these characters and stuff so no hate :3 (thank you )

So yes this rant was all over the place but I hope for the most part it was legible ! Please comment below because I'd love to talk more about this but for now, rant over :D

[inastarlesssky]

More Dreamuse thoughts because I had some realizations I came to. This scene is living rent-free in my head and I've just had some thoughts so have this is in mind, k?

Dream: The last time I saw you, you said you would never speak to me again. Calliope: I'm sorry, I had I did not know where else to turn. Dream: You misunderstand me. [steps ever so slightly closer to her] When I heard you call to me, even after all this time...let me help you. Please.

So because of a recent fixation upon The Sandman Netflix series, and after watching the series all the way through, I've started thinking about Dream of the Endless and turning over in my head the little details one can pick up on while watching the episodes. Just personally, I tend to think (a little too much probably) on things but when something catches my attention, well, all the more so.

That being said, in the first few episodes, I observed that Dream's reactions or emotional responses weren't...hm very strong, per se. Or rather, he might not always have shown on his face the emotion you can clearly hear in his voice. I thought that was really interesting because, well, as human beings, if someone's angry/sad/hurt, you will more often than not see that in a facial expression (granted, of course, people are different, and some are more expressive than others....I'm not trying to make a universal statement here, just making comparisons). Note that Dream of the Endless is not human. He is an anthropomorphic entity that according to Tom Sturridge is basically (damnit I can't remember how Tom said it in the interview) the collective unconsciousness of the world--dreams and dreaming and all that.

He's not human. Which means he will, accordingly, react to and perceive and experience things in ways different to us human beings. Keep that in mind.

It seemed to me a little subtle reminder to me of exactly that, he's not human. He's distant in a way. He definitely does still feel things, very strongly sometimes even. But his way of expression is different. Anyway, I digress.

So on a lovely server I just joined, I posed this question and the folks there pointed out that it's true, Dream doesn't necessarily vocalize an emotional response, but if it's very strong or boils over, then yes. Now I take 'vocalize an emotional response' in two ways:

saying "I feel [angry/sad/frustrated/insert whatever emotion]"

Showing in a change of the tone of voice or making some sort of comment that will give insight related to said emotional response

I've never seen him do the first and we shouldn't, because that doesn't make for very good storytelling. The showing is more frequently better than the telling, I believe. But I want to draw your attention to the second point, and most specifically to that scene when he's talking to Calliope shortly before he ruins Arthur Madoc's life.

She tells him about her plight, and he responds by saying he'll take care of everything she's asked him to, basically. She frowns at this and asks him, "Why? Because I was once yours?" He answers with a quiet, "Because he hurt you" and then continues with the quote I put at the beginning of this spiel.

"The last time I saw you, you said you would never speak to me again." - Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm imagining things. But I could have sworn I noticed a little, almost imperceptible change in his tone when he delivered this line. Without knowing any of the history they had (I know a little bit more now than I did then... but in that moment, no), I could tell that this was something painful for him. Something he'd been hurt by. (I know that it's all just 'poor Morpheus', they both suffered, and they were both hurt, and I could go off on a whole 'nother thing for that)

But my point is that, he's hurt. He mentions this to her, not directly telling her that, but reminding her of what she'd said to him so many years ago. Something that wounded him. Despite that, he has willingly and most readily come to her assistance when she called him.

That's it. Just offering that up for consideration.

[afra-blueraz]

Hiya 👋 Hope you are doing well

I've gathered from your (absolutely gorgeous) art that you have a soft spot for Shuyui and Rukiyui. You've got fantastic taste, both these ships are elite and I'm glad that someone as talented as you is bringing more attention to them 😌

I'd love to know which Shuyui and Rukiyui moments are your personal favorites! Like instances where you think their love and devotion for each other shines brightest. It can be from the games or CD dramas or whatever ^_^

Keep up the fantastic work ♡

Oh my goodness thank you so much 😢💘. Hearing these messages always melt my heart and give me motivation. Thank you ❤️🌺.

Exactly you are right both Rukiyui and Shuyui are my beloved ships and I really really love these ships from the bottom of my heart.

I have a lot of favorite fluff moments for Shuyui and Rukiyui. My favorite Drama CDs are Zero, Bloody Bouquet and Daylight.

I shed tears in the Daylight series. I remember that Yui was afraid of death, but she didn't want to tell Ruki about her fears so as not to annoy him. Ruki hugs her and asks her to cry and tell about her fears because she doesn't have to keep everything to herself anymore. Ruki knows very well that Yui has endured a lot of hardships and does not want her to suffer more and even told her lie that he will continue his life after her death. He decided to follow Yui after her death. This is really beautiful 😢😭🥺💘.

Regarding the games, I feel that Shu had feelings for Yui from the first game, but was afraid to express them. Because after Reiji killed Yui, Shu decided to bring Yui back to life and continue to love Yui despite her blindness. Although this ending was one of the bad endings, it is one of my favorites. I can understand Shu's big love with Yui.

Let's not forget Dark fate. When Shu stood up to Karlheinz and told him I will not let you or anyone else hurt her. He called Yui his family and started a new life with her and Ririe. Do I need to say that Shu has repeatedly said that his life has no meaning without Yui? Yui brought back Shu's sense of vitality and happiness and taught him to love again. We all know that Shu got depressed after Edgar's death and forgot all his feelings. The only one who could return Shu's feelings was Yui.

What should I say about Rukiyui? Even though More Blood wasn't the best, I loved how Ruki called Yui his angel and decided to betray Karlheinz to prove his love to Yui.

In the season of Dark Fate. Oh my god when Ruki read Yui's letter and cried. Let me tell you, Ruki is my type and I know very well how hard it is for us INTJs to cry. People with this type cry when they are really broken. The moment Yui said I miss you, I could hear my and Ruki's heart breaking. At the same time as Ruki, I wanted to cry 💔😭.

As someone who used to be human, Ruki has forgotten his feelings, Yui is the one who can rekindle these feelings in Ruki. Even Ruki who was a spoiled and selfish nobleman. They are truly made for each other.

This moment. I was so proud of them in this moment. Ruki showed how much he cares for Yui and love her.

Thank you again for your sweet words. I know that I have been inactive for a few days. It's because I'm a little busy with my writing project. I will back very soon.

If you are interested in these ships I suggest you to follow my cousin @shuyui-nether . She is crazy for Shuyui 😄.

And my friends @its-irsaa-fyp @diabolik-art-blog . Both of them have soft sides for elder brothers ships 😁. Rukiyui , Shuyui and Carlayui are their favorites.

[good-beans]

hiii ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ i've always loved your milgram posts and was hoping to hear you talk about them more. it's a bit of a vague question but i was hoping to hear your thoughts about the characters or songs? or really anything that's been on your mind! apart from that i hope you've been having a good day (or night!)

!!!!! Omg thank you so much?? This made me so happy ;----; I’m sorry if this is more than you bargained for LMAO, I planned on jotting down a few ideas and then I just kept on writing..... I hope you’re having a lovely day/night as well!✨

So, I’m actually not that great with coming up with crime-logistic theories (timelines, cause of death, etc), but I’ve been really interested in the insights we get on characterization from the visuals – specifically looking at the image of the self each prisoner creates. The videos come directly from inside their minds, so these self-portrayals aren’t biased with any manipulation, or how they want Es to view them. I’ve been bouncing these around in my head for a while, so thank you for the reason to actually put them down somewhere! So here are details I’ve gathered on each of them: (And as with everything in Milgram, this is just how I understood the symbolism – if people have other interpretations, I’d love to hear them!)

I've been adding edits as the videos come out, it's through Double now 👍

Haruka: In T1 he definitely views himself as guilty and dangerous. Though it’s dulled with crayon/mixed media, he conjurs a version of himself that’s committing acts of violence even in his suffering. The fact that his younger self takes place as the victim is huge to me. I know it could mean a lot of different things, but my personal interpretation is that Haruka sees his younger self in his little sister. He’s been in her shoes, at a time his mother loved him best. He believes he is the reason she stopped loving him, so he hates this younger version of himself. And this leads him to hate her now that he’s seeing the similarities. I believe the crimes happened extremely recently, so it’s interesting that he portrays himself as a child in much of AKAA. He’s not trying to gain any sympathy with it, he still genuinely feels like a child because of how much he struggles with everything. I don’t know what it means yet, but I’m really interested that despite all the water imagery he creates, he visualizes himself sinking, but never actually drowning/short of breath.

Yuno: Between both her videos, we only ever see her, her, her. This is because her motivations start and end with herself. I know her situation relies heavily on her clients, but in her mind, the one who was in control the whole time was only her. She’s the only one she can trust to take care of her and show her real love. She got into her line of work to benefit herself, and she went through with the abortion to benefit herself. She's taking the ultimate responsibility for everything that happened to her and everything that she did. Though it makes me happy to see it framed as all self love, it’s also clear that she’s unhappy with her decision. And, when everything revolves around versions of herself, there’s only one person she has to hate... 

Fuuta: His self-imagery makes it really clear how his mindset changed between trials. In T1 he genuinely saw himself as the hero, the perfect knight-in-shining-armor. Once doubt started to creep into his mind, though, he suddenly portrays himself as a criminal hiding/running in dark areas. It also emphasizes what he was saying about he and Es being the same: the girl that he accused of being guilty turned to ash after being sprayed with his paint, and he starts turning to ash along with Es’ accusation and paint spray. I know people took that as his suicidal intent, (and while that’s still a thing he does express in Backdraft,) I actually think his burning is just his fear that he’ll die at the end of Milgram. Another little detail, but someone mentioned Fuuta only lowered his mask in BIO while he’s looking at his phone, showing that he was comfortable being his true self online. Meaning, he had to hide some part of him in the rest of his life. The original post said it was his sexuality, but I feel as though it’s just his general paranoia of living around warriors for justice who are constantly evaluating everyone’s behavior. 

Muu: Like I said, the mvs are unaffected by how the prisoners want Es to see them, soI was confused when people accused Muu of lying in T1 – that’s really how she took the situation! In her mind, that pain and mistreatment made up everything in her. Her being a bully didn’t matter then, because it was her being a victim that led to the murder. In T2, it becomes obvious that she does harbor guilt. No innocent person would imagine themselves as a monstrous, destructive creature like that. If she really saw herself as ‘queen bee,’ her self-image would be flawless and lovable. INMF also showed she wasn’t exaggerating when she said the murder was to free her: we see her self-image undergo a full metamorphosis and sprout beautiful wings to fly away after she committed her crime. Though she feels guilty, she still believes it was necessary to free her and is grateful for it. 

Shidou: I’m still working on something more solid for him, but it’s neat that T1 he’s expressing so much guilt, yet his self-image is engaged in very abstract activities (like gardening and eating). In T2 he’s chilled out a bit, but that’s the video that death is literally following everywhere he goes (flowers dying behind him, ghosts surrounding him). It’s also worth noting he has his doctor’s coat on for most of Throw Down, and then the only time he has it in Triage is at the very end when he’s vowing to help the other prisoners. I’ll get back with a more solid conclusion on his soon…

Mahiru: Like Yuno (and semi-Haruka), the fact that she’s the only one to appear in her T1 mv means all her turmoil at that point was focused inward. She saw herself as the center of her story, which isn’t necessarily a selfish thing. It means she didn’t blame her boyfriend for anything that happened, even though we know it was likely both of their behaviors that led to the crime. Still, she’s taking all the focus on herself, showing off all the things she did and failed to do for him. The fact that everything is styled like magazine pages hints that she genuinely sees their relationship as the picture perfect example of love. After all, she was just “being herself” when she got him killed. Even that deep in her heart, she’s convinced love makes everything glossy and perfect. T2 is an exaggeration on both if these concepts -- she still places all the blame/responsibility on herself, but with the doubt creeping into her mind, she now paints herself as a villain who's actively causing harm. She still believes love can make things seem perfect, but you get the sense she's become more aware that love wasn't transforming her, it was blinding her.

Kazui: So this is an interesting one. I know that the performance aspect in Half is obviously taken as him acting that he loves his wife when he’s fallen in love with someone else. However, the fact that he’s singing the song about how he doesn’t love her, while still on stage/in costume, gives me a different idea. His emotions are so incredibly repressed and fucked up that even in the privacy of his own heart, he feels like he has to act sad about her death when he actually has more complex emotions than that. Not that he’s happy about it per se, but the feelings are too complex for him to show even himself. (We’ve all been there, where even in our private thoughts it’s embarrassing to be excited about something terrible and we pretend we aren’t.) That’s why I think he sounds so different in Cat – he’s able to start processing that he may be relieved, or freed that she’s gone. Or maybe he’s just realizing the murder was indirect, and he’s allowed to mourn her without feeling personally guilty for her death. So I agree the costumes represent hiding his emotions, but I think it symbolizes him lying to himself rather than just lying to his wife. Now with Cat out, he also shows a shift of seeing himself more guilty. Rather than a passive character, his self appears as someone known for manipulation/deception/trickery -- someone in charge of the situation. He's coming to terms with his active role in Hinako's death. There's also a lot of his vices shown explicitly, like his smoking and drinking. He's painting himself in a much worse light as his guilt gets to him. (There's also something to be said about the whole thing appearing under a filter of advertisement/magazine style, but I have yet to form a conclusion I'm happy with on that)

Amane: The major thing I took away from Magic was the idea that Amane really felt isolated in her cult. She saw herself as a normal girl, but no one else is like her. The other children are all animals, and the adults in charge are animalistic or robotic. There’s such a divide between her and everyone else. She’s not living up to their religious standards the way that everyone else seems to be. With the adults, it could be the general feeling that they never listen to or understand her because of her age. In T2, she presents a new idea: she's struggling with how complex and contradictory the self is. The human psyche has so many parts and motivations, all represented by the marching band members. She wants to be good. She's flawed. She wants to help. She's hurting. She knows she's made mistakes. She thinks she deserves punishment. That punishment is killing her. The adults around her make behaving look/sound so easy, but at her age it's so difficult to be a good girl! She wants to show this to Es, since she believes her own misbehavior + following the rules is what led to her murder.

Mikoto: He’s got So much going on with identity and sense of self, but I don’t have a ton on him that hasn’t already been said lol. I’ve joked that the reason Meme got the most views is because it’s the mv that shows the most skin, but on a serious note I think it’s really telling that there are so many bathing/showering/teeth brushing shots. Those are the stereotypical times we’re completely alone with ourselves – cleaning off everything external so that it’s just us in our purest form left when we’re done. An interesting switch I've noticed in Double is that the two major alters never appear beside each other -- there's the reflection in the mirror at one point (and I think they're face to face in the last shot?) but we never see both onscreen at the same time. This is because each one wants to distance themselves from the other: Bokukoto wants to show he's far from a killer, and Orekoto wants to make it clear he's the one who was violent. Neither wants to be mistaken for the other, but it's much easier to do so since they look exactly the same in this video (no color-coded clothes or eyes or lighting.) A minor detail, but the fact that his own mind conjured up quotes around the word "savior" makes it clear that Orekoto is slowly realizing his actions may have gotten Bokukoto into more trouble than they saved him from...

Kotoko: I don’t have too much on her at the moment since a lot of her scenes seem to be memories of her actual life and are already in line with what she’s admitted about herself. Still, I think the running-alongside-wolves scenes reveal a lot. She very clearly works alone, but wolves are known for hunting in a pack. Does she have a pack we haven’t seen yet? Is there a reason she’s no longer with them? Does she just dream of running with one because she craves that belonging so deeply? @tokyogruel pointed out that wolves are known for caring for weaker pack members, and that there have been analyses of the Harrow wolves being Kotoko's family members. This is revealing a more prominent focus on family than she's made known so far. She doesn't see herself as an elevated hero -- she always views herself as part of a team, which can be seen in her 'deal' with Es and all her T2 commentary of their partnership (despite being their prisoner). She's always been working with and for others.

[theheartslament]

I'm a Villainess

On nights, I find myself getting tortured by the thought of how I’m a Villain in everyone’s story. It’s a realization that came to me while reading the latest chapter of one of my favorite Webtoon novels, “How To Get My Husband On My Side”.

It’s a story about Ruby, a minor villain from a historical novel, who was destined to die at the hands of her husband, Izek. She was already trying hard to survive her dysfunctional family, but now she has to marry the man who is the enemy of her kingdom and who might eventually kill her. To survive, Ruby must convince her husband, Izek, and all his countrymen that she’s completely harmless and not the bad person or villain that everyone thinks she is. Yet, no matter how she tries to change the opinion of others, no matter how she tries to show good, they continue to find fault in her and see her as an unredeemable villain, and not someone who needs kindness and love.

(Webtoon: How To Get My Husband On My Side)

And it hit me — why am I so obsessed with reading Villainess stories? I've been reading it since I was 19, and now that I'm 26, Isekai-d Villainess trope is still a guilty pleasure. I realized that it was because I saw myself as one. A misunderstood villain. I saw myself in her because no one sees us for who we are, no one sees that we're hurting. No one understands the depth of our pain, everyone just assumes we are bad people. Even when I try to do something good for my loved ones, they'll take it the wrong way. Like Ruby, the minor villainess, I felt that no matter how I try to live my life as kindly as I can, it seems meaningless because people will always magnify my flaws and keep bringing up the mistakes that I’ve done in the past while the good deeds I’ve done for them are completely forgotten.

It was exhausting. It’s exhausting for me to prove to myself to other people that I mean no harm, even when I never had any intentions to hurt anybody. It hurts when your loved ones think so little of you, do not even give you the benefit of the doubt, and insist on believing that I’m a secretly bad person for hurting them. I’ve acknowledged my faults again and again, I cannot run from this because I’m a sinner who lives in a fallen world, but it’s disheartening when there are present issues, you’ll hear from them, again and again, the past mistakes, as if God's work in my life is fruitless. I’m unredeemable, and just deemed to be a villain in their story.

Like the villain, it hurt me too when I realized I have friends who have secret animosity towards me. I couldn't fathom how someone could call me their friend and yet all this time they had issues with me that they never addressed. I thought I was overthinking when someone would act strangely toward me, ignoring me and even treating me as if I were a competition or someone who'd steal their crush/boyfriend, despite assuring them I have no romantic interests. I was so hurt they thought so little of me! It hurt me that I was clueless. If only I knew my friend was hurting, I could have apologized and cleared up the misunderstandings and lies she thought of me. But she chose to address her issues with me to other people first while I was left clueless. Her prolonged dishonesty hurt me, God — that she'd defined me as my past self which prevented her from being honest to me. It's disheartening to be assumed that I'm a bad person and easily angered! Frustrating that she’d forgive the other, then put all the blame of her sufferings to me. If they were really my friend, they would choose to see the best in me and not make assumptions. If they were my friend, they would choose to communicate their issues with me, even if the things they tell me will hurt me and they know I might react badly to it. They would have the courage to love, be honest, and embrace my flaws. They would believe that more than my pride, I would apologize if I had to because I love them. But they chose to be dishonest, they chose not to communicate things with me, and not see me in the light. The lack of trust and communication has really caused our friendship to dwindle.

Once again, I felt like the misunderstood villain and she was the victimized heroine. Everyone thinks I'm the cause of her suffering, but not everyone knows or hears my side. They don't know how much I suffered too. I also couldn’t blame my friend for how she reacted for I’m aware of her upbringing. Something that I learned from therapy is that the triggers or conflicts we experienced as an adult are triggers from our childhood traumas.

Allow me God to express my distress that I kept to myself but like Ruby, I felt like I wanted to die. Maybe the world will be a better place for others if a villainess like me ceases to exist. Everyone simply forgets me or think ill of me. I tried my best to encourage myself and live kindly and privately, but I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that I’m an unlovable villain.

They said I shouldn’t overthink that I’m a bad person and see it as my identity, but how could I not? When they kept villainizing me and bringing up my past? It’s spiritually crippling that people are so obsessed to define me with my past, as if they’ve put me in a box and labeled me in how they prefer to see me. Is there really no good in me? But I know to myself that I’m not who they think I am. How they think of me is not within my control. It's much better to just let it go, and let them. Let them talk about me with other people. Let them think badly of me. Let them think whatever they want to. I am responsible for my actions but it's not my responsibility to change their feelings towards me.

Lord, forgive me for my sins.

There will always be people who’ll dislike me, but I know my true value and that I’m deeply loved. R.C. Sproul once said,

"When I think I'm unfairly hated, I try to remember that I'm unfairly loved."

I am unfairly loved by God and that’s more important for me to know. Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and He rose again. And in Him, I’m a new creation;

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Cor 5:17).

I am also forgiven, and no longer condemned (Romans 8:1). If the world keeps a record of my past wrongdoings well God isn’t interested in it. He’s more interested in who I am now, and who I will be in the future. In God’s eyes, I have no past, only a great future. And just the thought of this, His patience and unconditional love and forgiveness that is as vast as the night sky, is a balm to my aching heart.

Don't let anybody remind you who you were. Don't allow your past, whatever that is to bring you down. God wants you to move on. He doesn't want you to dwell in it. When someone tries to remind you of your past, show them what kind of person you are today. Tell them boldly you are a new creation, a brand new treasure of the most High. You are God's special treasure. In His eyes you are significant; you are his treasure.

The scripture says in Isaiah 43:4, "Because you are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you..." Wow! Isn't it amazing? Despite knowing your past God loves you! Even when God knows you are flawed, you are precious to Him. Let's read it one more time, "You are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you..."

Despite the anger and pain in my heart, my love was stronger and I could easily make a decision to forget and forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in me. Amy Carmichael once said;

If I say, “Yes, I forgive, but I cannot forget,” as though the God who twice day washes all the sands on all the shores of all the world, could not wash such memories from my mind, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If I do not give a friend “the benefit of the doubt,” but put the worst construction instead of the best on what is said or done, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If I feel bitterly towards those who condemn me, as it seems to me, unjustly, forgetting that if they knew me as I know myself they would condemn me much more, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

The world may tell me to burn bridges and cut off those who have animosity, have hurt me, or no longer good for me, but God taught me differently. Jesus Christ didn't do that with me. He saw that I'm someone redeemable through His blood. He unfairly loved me, and I must do the same for the others. How can I profess I know God if I remained unfriendly and hostile to His children. How will I even experience a Kingdom marriage if I’m so quick to distance myself from those who hurt me, what more if it was my spouse? Will I divorce right away because I couldn’t stand his flaws? When my heart feels like it wants to be hardened, I will have to soften it again and again, till I can love my enemies. I thought I had no more love left to give. I thought that I forever turned cold like a true villain, my afflictions had no end! Misery was my companion. But when I truly learned to let go and accept everything. No more bargains and what-ifs with God. I found that my heart became lighter and overflowing. I had so much love to give that I could still care and give gifts (my love language besides time) to those who hurt me in the past. I have love all along, it never came from people but from Him.

God taught me that the purpose of my trials is not to learn things but to unlearn, and one of those is I have to unlearn turning my heart cold and burning bridges to those who are flawed. I will welcome and love every villain like me. I must build boundaries to protect myself but never condemn and cut off people. This was my common mistake before, and again and again, God brought me into the same situation til I learned to love. If I knew Calvary love, I would have to "Foster a spirit of acceptance, forgiveness, and opportunity for people to be redeemed. This will improve your relationships and give you emotional permission to experience those things yourself when others offer them to you."

My friend, don’t give up on loving people. Give the benefit of the doubt, and communicate. Don’t let built up resentment destroy your relationships.

“Relationships often die not because of conversations that were had but rather conversations that were needed but never had.”

― Lysa TerKeurst, Good Boundaries and Goodbyes

[tldr] Izek is actually a kind and patient husband to Ruby. He knew she had a past trauma and it was the biggest obstacle in their relationship. He can see she's twisted inside, that's why she seemed distant and cold, but he never took it personally. He loved her and the only thing he could do was to listen, be patient, and coax her. Even when Izek's kingdom tries to make him think Ruby is a villain, he doesn't care. He would still choose her. After 100 chapters, in these panels, Ruby finally realizes that all along, Izek truly loves and cares for her. She kept doubting him, pushing Izek away, but Izek was persistent to protect Ruby and He would always be on her side, so there was no need for her to try to get him on his side. As a misunderstood villain, her past made her feel unlovable, despicable, and unworthy to others, but Izek's love removed her veil of depression that was suffocating her to death huhu.

I really felt Ruby. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I’m lovable that I start to keep my distance from everyone who tries to get close to me. But I do desire that one day if it's God's will for me, I want to meet someone like Izek. A man or a friend with the courage to love me despite knowing my flaws and the darkness that lingers within me.

(Webtoon: How To Get My Husband On My Side)