#gave her a staff bc fuck it she's got her silence staff

[hella1975]

we had a woman with a mobility scooter come into the restaurant last night and i refuse to believe she didn't mention it on the booking which means the host was just being a fucking idiot bc he gave her and her husband a table that was clearly hard to access, which is doubly annoying when u consider the restaurant IS accessible and this all could have been avoided with something as simple as her literally just being given a different table. anyway i may have... mentioned once or twice on here that the kind of customers i get are always posh entitled CUNTS, and what happened was she accidentally hit a man's chair as she was trying to get to her table. and yeah she shoved him pretty hard but i could tell IMMEDIATELY that he was fine but he was such a prick about it??? like she straight away started apologising and asking if she'd hurt him and he just fucking ignored her in favour of looking like someone had booted him in the stomach unprompted while he was innocently eating his food? like get a grip? and after that his entire table of six sat in silence STARING as this woman really awkwardly navigated to her table, which took a while and a lot of moving around and generaly garnered a lot more attention than necessary. by the time she eventually settled, i could see by the woman's face that she was mortified and uncomfortable and the table next to hers (with the man she hit) were still just glaring daggers at her. as a waitress there's really not much i can do, but as well as being very clipped with the man's table for the rest of the night and doing petty things like not giving them the vouchers we technically Have To Give Out, we also made a point of really reassuring the woman. and it was the oddest thing bc it was me and another waitress that really took charge of it, and she's the waitress i CANNOT FUCKING STAND. like she's usually such a miserable cunt but i really saw her in a new light because she looked at me and went 'that's not on' and did something about it. basically, the woman had a 9 week old puppy that couldn't go on the floor yet so she had him in her lap the entire time, and under the guise of petting her dog, me and the other waitress just gave her as much positive attention as we could without being overbearing. and then i quietly went to the rest of the staff and explained what had happened and if they could just go over and be friendly for a second (and they get to pet a cute puppy if they do so it's a win-win). and it was just so touching to see bc one by one the ENTIRE floor staff (usually about 10+ people) came over to this woman and i saw her gradually light up more and more and we made a point of asking questions about the dog, and the table next to her were FUMING like i could see them getting more and more pissed off that she was getting so much attention. it was just a really nice moment. and i got to pet a cute puppy

[bydragonfireandblood]

Honestly, best part about watching HotD was that it gave me a free blocklist to weed out any jonsas (because ridiculous number of the green stans seem to be jonsas!) I might've missed the first time around with GoT. But what's absolutely baffling is how many claim to be feminists. I'll go to their blog to block them and their bio will be something like "She/her, feminist" and it's just like... what kind of mental acrobatics do you have to be doing to believe that??

Let's see, shall we? Just off the top of my head, jonsas (and fairly often Sansa's more... "special" stans) like to

Put down Dany and Arya for not being "feminine enough" (i.e. their ideal femininity, which ig means women can't be anything else). As if expecting women to conform to a standard of what's "feminine enough" isn't part of the problem :/

Constantly claim Sansa can't be held accountable for her mistakes because she's a child, but then regularly claim another child is unforgivable for her mistakes and should die for it

Imply (and sometimes even say) that Dany shouldn't be breaking the wheel. You mean the patriarchy? You, an alleged feminist, don't think the patriarchal system ASoIaF has is awful and dumb??

Suggest that Jon is actually going to politically manipulate Dany by pretending to love her but really he's doing it for Sansa. That is... disgusting on more levels than I could count, but I'll simplify it to "wanting to see an ending where a woman is manipulated sexually and then murdered by her male lover when she's no longer useful is gross and you should feel gross" because apparently they can't read at more than a 2nd grade level

Ignore the fact that this already-misogynistic plotline would be, in their dreams, so the man can get together with their favorite woman instead. Because putting down a woman like a dog in favor of another woman isn't bad, apparently

Absolutely hate the fact that Dany is a subversion of the prophecied hero trope because she's the "Princess who was promised". This would be a wonderful twist on the trope instead of the sexist "but actually it was the man all along!" one, which has been done to death already

Crack jokes about Dany being infertile and how that would "make Sansa a better wife for Jon, bc she can give him an heir". Ah yes, implying it's a woman's duty and purpose to have kids and that anyone who can't is broken. Wonderful example of feminist rhetoric, you guys

And this very much extends to the green stans too! Little wonder so many stansas seem to love Alicent, since they're both "women who have to suffer through the patriarchy". Let's see what our precious, definitely-feminist Alicent has done, shall we?

The big one: actively trying to prevent a woman from rising to the Throne so she can be replaced by her son, a man

The son, I should add, being utterly unfit to rule and she knows it (unless she's absolutely fucking stupid, there's no way she could not know Aegon would be a bad king). I mean, he assaulted serving staff, disappears to the slums to watch his bastards fight to the death, and when he was supposed to be king he fled. Rulership material indeed :/ But Alicent seems to think a penis makes him suited to rule despite all that

Straight-up admits that Viserys was less suited to rule than Rhaenys on account of temperament... but then in the next breath ask Rhaenys to help her uphold the male succession that fucked her over, in favor of a man even less suitable for kingship than Viserys was

And on the note of the serving girl... silencing rape victims is not feminist. At all. I recognize HotD's societal standards are different, but idk, they sure like to apply modern standards like war crimes to Dany and Rhaenyra so I think I'll do the same here

Resents Rhaenyra for finding happiness in her own relationships. Look, what happened to her was awful and I felt bad for her, but once she turned around and started putting other women down for not suffering like she did, instead of trying to see the system that caused her suffering ended... that's where she went wrong. (Also I feel like reminding everyone Laenor was gay. Did greens want Nyra to maritally rape her husband?? How dare a woman have an enjoyable sex life)

Book Alicent legitimately hoped that "mayhaps the whore will die in childbirth" because that's absolutely a feminist girlboss thing to say

Look, I have no problem with people liking or even defending either character for some of their actions. Even I'd admit the Greens are fun to watch despite being in the wrong, and that Sansa's bullying means her arc has potential for character growth towards realizing her ideal femininity is wrong. But when their stans start attacking other women for not accepting and conforming to the system? That's why I usually see urls/lots of posts about these characters as a red flag

If you're one of these people and I somehow haven't already blocked you? Please go outside and work on the internalized misogyny a bit before you claim to be feminist

[the-carlos-cow-eyes]

continuing here bc tumblr won't let me keep replying to your post//

(...) bother trying to get to the bottom of it, instead they just avoided him and looked at him as if he was a monster. then madison tried comforting him just for chris to learn a few hours later that she doesn't trust him one bit and that she complained to travis about him. so while it wasn't right of him to just watch on as madison got tackled by a walker, I'm also genuinely not surprised that he didn't jump to protect her. then the knife scene in the mansion, what the fuck was up with that? I didn't understand why he wanted to wake alicia in the middle of the night, why madison had a knife on the nightstand of the bed when the staff took all their weapons, why no one tried to confirm that no, chris did in fact NOT hover over alicia with a knife like she claimed he did and how he did not have any intention of hurting madison or alicia. just straight up an unnecessary scene to vilify him and then outcast him. and don't get me started on how much of a failure as a father travis was. from the start, he never listened to chris, never took his concerns seriously, never knew how to deal with his son's rage. all he ever did was try to suppress or silence anything chris wanted from him. chris TRIED communicating with his dad on multiple occassions despite his resentment towards him. travis had no fucking right to give up on chris, and that his son ended up trusting two manipulative strangers more than his own dad is all his own doing. fuck ftwd and travis. chris didn't deserve to get executed in an almost off-screen death scene. the fucking disrespect

it just frustrates me so much because he clearly had so much untapped potential. I wanted to see a redemption and growth from him. but what do I expect from the same writers that took carl from me 😩😩

NO, BECAUSE YOU'RE SO RIGHT!! Madison literally gaslit him after he killed Reed and It seemed like Alicia tried to befriend him In Season 1, but then she just does a full 180 and starts treating him like shit. Oh, and don't even get me started on how he tried to save her from that walker when she was cilmbing the fence In Season 1 and then she completely elbows him In the nose and doesn't even apologize after? And then Travis tells him to calm down, like?? What?? If I had just damn near almost gotten my nose broken just for trying to help, I would have been absolutely livid! And It would have pissed me off even more If someone else told me to just chill out right after

But Madison and Alicia really did the absolute most to make Chris out to be an asshole and a monster. Travis was highkey a shitty father too like you and I both stated. Literally the only person (In my opinion) that truly gave a shit about Chris other than his mother was Nick. Nick was the only one who jumped In after Chris after he jumped off of the boat (which no one questioned either?). He was the only one who checked up on him after the boat was raided and he was standing watch on Reed. He tried to make Chris feel better about not killing Reed's whole group when they first came onto the boat. He talked Chris out of killing Reed too early. The first thing he does when he sees Travis again In Season 3 Is ask about Chris. And, quite frankly, he was the ONLY one who showed genuine emotion when Travis told him that Chris was dead. Like, the look on his face Is just pure heartbreak. And then no one even utters Chris’ name again after he's killed off and after Travis follows almost Immediately after. But It truly pisses me off that there wasn't more done with those two In particular. Both Nick & Chris were the outcasts In their respective families. Nick was able to talk to Chris more because he knew how It felt to be the odd one out. To be the one that everyone thought was gonna snap and break at some point. Nick could relate to him because of those specific aspects. Had they had more scenes together, I really think that they could have been friends. It would have been so Interesting to see their dynamic In Seasons 3 & 4 before Nick Is killed off as well, which also makes me Incredibly angry as well.

Oh, and I still stand by the fact that Travis didn't deserve to get that closure by killing Brandon and Derek. Like, he literally let Chris leave to begin with when he KNEW that those two grown ass men were being sketchy as fuck around his sixteen year old son and, once again, didn't even try to follow them after they left so he could get Chris back. I could literally go on and on about how much the characters around Chris (besides Nick) just piss me tf off

[witchoflock]

I drew a Deirdre though

[reidgraygubler]

sweet creature (wes/reader) pt 23

Title: Sweet Creature part 23 Couple: Wes/Fem!Reader Category: slowburn (will contain 18+ content) Content Warning: D/s dynamic, kissing, lmk if I missed anything bc i can’t think of anything that needs to be tagged. Word Count: 1725 Summary: Puppy considers what her mom had said about school and Jessica finds out about Puppy and Wes’ relationship. Puppy receives important information regarding her future at Westview Veterinary Clinic. A/N: apologizes for the short part. Just needed to progress the plot and get things rolling for the last parts :) thanks for reading and enjoying the series :D

Previous Part Series Masterlist Next Part

It was a slow day. It was painfully slow. Usually, when I say it was a slow day, I meant that there was a couple 20-minute breaks between pets but we could still maintain something to keep us busy. But today was so slow. The 20-minute break turned into 40 minutes, and then 40 minutes turned into 60. Half the staff left and went home. And I was still here because Wes had to stay and do more work.

I took this as time to mess around on my laptop since I had no real work to do at the moment. My dad’s voice was still in the back of my head, asking me about school and telling me I should consider going back to become a real vet. And that’s how I found myself researching schools and which ones had good veterinary courses. Of course, I was just looking. Nothing was in stone. It was just looking.

“What’re you looking at?” Jessica asked, her voice coming from behind me. I jumped slightly the moment I saw her hair in the corner of my eye. I quickly minimized out of the tab for colleges that were all over the country, and even some in other countries. Jessica was one of the last people I wanted to know that I was even considering going back to school.

“What?! Nothing!” I shouted as I turned to face her. She looked back at me with a raised brow before pushing my chair away from the desk. Before I even got the chance to fight back, she clicked the tabs back open and was met with all the school options I had.

“Are you… Are you going back to school?” she asked as she turned back around to look at me. I stared at her with wide eyes. The way she was instantly about confronting me about this before she even heard my excuse. Because that’s really what it is… It’s an excuse.

“No… Yes? I don’t know. I was just looking. Wes and I went out to dinner with my mom and dad the other day and my dad mentioned going back to school. He wants me to be an actual vet,” I explained as I sat back in my chair. Jessica looked at me, a deep crease growing between her brows.

“Woah, wait. Back up… I’m missing a lot of steps here. Why would Wes get dinner with you and your parents?” she asked as she placed a hand on her hip. I stared at her, watching as she cocked her hip out at me. The expression she wore on her face was silently telling me that she wanted me to talk and give her answers now. There truly was no escape from Jessica at that point.

Fuck! I froze when our eyes met. Her face slowly fell when I wasn’t speaking. My silence ultimately gave her the answer she sought. I could see the realization settle in her eyes.

“Wait…” Jessica whispered as she stared at me. Her eyes flicked down to my necklace, then to my laptop, then back to my necklace.

“Please don’t hate me,” I quietly begged.

“Are you guys… Are you guys dating?” she asked, even though she really did already have her answer. She just wanted to hear me say yeah, me and Wes are dating and have been for a couple months now.

“Y-yeah, we are,” I mumbled as I looked away from my friend. I swallowed roughly when she didn’t respond right away.

“WHAT?! How long?” Jessica basically yelled. I jumped, nearly falling out of my chair. My eyes went back to her and I could see a mixture of annoyance and excitement on her face.

“Like… Just a couple months. Not too long. We’ve been keeping it on the DL because, well… It’s honestly kinda weird for a person to be dating their boss,” I explained. She stared at me as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“That night we went to the bar and you were late… Were you at-”

“Yeah, I was at Wes’... He had to show me something and I… I almost didn’t show up,” I muttered as I looked away. The brief moment of before that night came back to me. And I really wished I had stayed instead of going out. "I wasn't totally lying when I said I was at my secret boyfriend's house..."

“And the guy you said you loved but didn’t love you back? Was-”

“It was Wes.”

“I take it he loves you back, right?”

“I mean, I sure hope he does,” I said with a small laugh. "That'd make our whole relationship kinda awkward if he didn't..."

“Sooooo, this means that Wes is the secret boyfriend that has fucked you?”

“Jessica-”

“This also means that Wes took your sacred v-card?” Jessica cooed as she stepped closer to me. I looked up at her with wide eyes. Thank God that there wasn't a family member with their pet in the waiting room and that we were really the only ones out here.

“Jessica!” I shouted. The blaze that grew across my face was impossible to stop. I quickly looked away from her, forcing a frown on my lips. It was so hard to not think about that first time though. God and she has no idea, and never will have an idea, that we fucked three rooms away from here…

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she hummed before lowering to press a kiss to my cheeks. “You should go get some water,” she teased before standing upright. I glared at her as she walked away, leaving me alone in the waiting room. I rolled my eyes and stood up, grabbing my belongings and stepping out of the room.

Instead of going to the break room or locker room to get water, I found myself walking towards Wes’ office. I stayed quiet as I entered the room and placed my stuff on one of the armchairs. Wes was working on his laptop so he didn’t notice me at first. He only noticed me when I took a seat in the other armchair, the one that was in his line of vision.

He looked over at me, peaking over his glasses (the ones that he really only wore when he was backed up with work or when he has a migraine or both. I wondered which it was.). I hated that I was bothering him while he worked. To be fair, I could help him. But he always sort of gave me special treatment (even outside of our relationship). I just needed an escape from the other people in the clinic and the world on my laptop or phone.

“Is it okay if I just… Hang out in here for a minute?” I asked as he looked back at his computer. He silently nodded as he kept his eyes on his work. I took a deep breath and slouched back in my seat. I was grateful for the quiet room, the only noise being Wes typing away on his laptop. I wanted to know what it was he was working on, but I knew if I asked he’d probably want my help on it. And that was honestly the last thing I wanted to do right now.

“I heard shouting?” Wes asked as soon as I sat down across from him. I looked at him, watching as he closed his laptop and focused on me. I swallowed roughly and nodded.

Great, now I have to explain to him.

“Jessica found out… Mostly my fault…” I started to explain before dropping my gaze away from him. Wes hummed lightly and when I didn’t look up at him, he hummed again. “I was telling her that we had gone to dinner with my parents and there was really no way around explaining to her the reason why you would be having dinner with them, with me. So I just told her. So, now she knows,” I spoke a touch too fast. Wes looked at me with a small smile and shrugged.

“I did tell you that you could tell her.”

“Wait, you’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad? It’s not like you told her everything we do… Right?”

“NO! I didn’t! She doesn’t need to know all of it. I just told her that we’ve been dating for the last… couple of months. I mean that’s not exactly true. But it’s not a total lie either,” I laughed as I looked down at the ground.

“Well, you know what the deal was. Just don’t tell her the other stuff. It’s fine. I don’t see any real issue with her knowing about us benign together,” he said with a shrug. I stared at him, feeling a small smile grow across my lips. It wasn’t an embarrassed or annoyed smile. It was actually a purely-joyful smile.

“Now I got two people teasing me about drinking more water,” I said with an eye roll. Wes laughed and shook my head.

“On second thought, maybe we should tell her who your owner is. Don’t you think so?” he joked as he started to stand. My eyes widened as I stared at him, terrified that he was actually about to tell her.

“No! Please don’t! I was just… joking,” I half-shouted. He looked at me as he continued to walk around his desk and lean against the front of it. A small smile grew across his lips as he moved closer to me.

“So was I,” he whispered before pressing his lips to mine.

“I hate you,” I muttered softly. He smiled and shrugged.

“I’ll keep that in mind next time you come over,” he said cooly as he pushed off the chair and went back to his seat. I swallowed roughly and watched as he quietly went back to work.

“I love you,” I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear me say something, but not loud enough for him to know what I said.

“What was that?” Wes asked as he looked over his glasses and at me. I smiled at him and shrugged.

“Nothing,” I said as I stood up.

“No, it’s never not just nothing with you, Pups,” he said as I walked around to him. He looked up at me as I leaned over to press my lips to his.

“I love you,” I repeated a little softer. He smiled at me before kissing me again.

“That’s what I thought.”

Thinking about going back to school has probably been one of my biggest secrets in a while. Jessica is the only person who knows I was even thinking about it. When I filled out those applications a couple weeks ago, I wasn’t expecting to actually hear back from any of them, let alone the one that I wanted to get into the most. And it was the one that was on the complete opposite side of the country too. It’s fine, really. It’ll be an exciting change. That’s if I decide to actually go or not. 

That definitely gave me the excitement I needed to get through the day. Maybe when we’re done working, I’ll tell Wes about my acceptance in a good school. Granted, he knows nothing about the whole school thing. Maybe he’ll be excited. Probably not about that possible long distance relationship. We’d make it work.

“Whatcha looking at?” a familiar voice asked from behind my shoulder. I took a deep breath and quickly dropped my phone to the counter. When I turned around, I was met with Wes. He was looking at me with a soft smile. 

“My-My emails,” I said, telling the truth. I mean, it wasn’t a lie. I was looking at my emails. “I know I shouldn’t be on my phone while at work. I was just-”

“Babes, it's okay. When have I ever gotten mad about you being on your phone? You actually know time and place and don’t mess with your phone when there’s people around. And today seems like another slow one,” Wes laughed lightly as he looked around the waiting room. I copied his action and noted that there wasn’t a single person here. I hated slow days.

“Okay, that’s true.”

“Plus, I’m not Kurt. I know Kurt would’ve whipped you a new one,” he laughed as he looked down at me. I stared at him with wide eyes and shrugged lightly. “I’ll just do that at home later,” he added in a whisper.

“Wes!” I exclaimed as I tried to push away from him. He laughed again before pulling me closer. I stared at him and shook my head. “You’re lucky I love you,” I muttered as he moved slightly closer to me. 

“Why? What would you do if you didn’t love me?” he asked as he sat on the counter. I found myself moving closer and honestly without an answer. Of course he knew I was just trying to be mean. But as he would say I don’t have a mean bone in my body. Only when I’m pissed. 

“Shut up and just kiss me already,” I muttered before grabbing his shift. Wes laughed lightly before pressing his lips to mine. He probably didn’t care about how public this was. I mean, this isn’t the worst thing we’ve done. Considering the first time we had sex was in room 8 of the clinic. 

“Okay, lovebirds, get a room,” Jessica’s voice came from the hall to our left. I begrudgingly pulled away from Wes and looked over at my friend. She was staring at both of us with a smug grin before shrugging. “Of course, only if you don’t have any real work to do. Because if you don’t, by all means, keep going. Pretend that I’m not even here!” she said as she clapped her hands together. I stared at her, watching her lean against the wall beside her. 

“Perv!” I accused as I stood up. Wes grabbed my arm and then my hand.

“I’m just saying… I’m not the one making out with my boss in the waiting room,” she coyly said as she stepped closer to the front desk. I stared at her and shook my head.

“Speaking of work, aren’t you supposed to be somewhere?” Wes asked as he turned slightly to face Jessica. She looked at him with a smug smile and shrugged.

“Just another slow day, what can I say?” she mused as she leaned over the counter. I stared at the two people in front of me, noting that they were having a silent argument with the death stare down.

“I better get to my office and finish up stuff in there. Bit behind,” Wes explained as he dropped his gaze to his legs before standing up. I looked back at him with a small smile before picking his lips.

“Beep me if you need help,” I whispered.

“God just have sex in the utility closet already,” Jessica groaned as she dramatically fell over the counter. I looked at her then back at Wes. 

“I will. Love you,” he whispered before pecking my lips. With that, it was just Jessica and me in the waiting room.

“We’ve fucked in the utility closet… And room 8,” I mumbled as I sat back down. She stood up right and looked right down at me. 

“What was that?”

“In fact, the first time we had sex togheter was in room 8,” I quickly added. I really had to push away that memory. But it was really hard because it was a good night, despite it happening after an argument.

“THAT’S OUR MAIN ROOM!” she shouted the moment she realized what it was that I said. I looked at her and shrugged.

“Oh, calm down, we don’t do it here anymore,” I said with a smile. She stared at me and shook my head. “You’re the one curious about my sex life with Wes.”

“And I don’t regret it for one moment,” she hummed as she leaned over the counter again. I stared at her and shook my head.

“I got accepted at a college in New Hampshire,” I whispered as I looked down at my phone. She stared at me for a moment, taking in what I said.

“When you said you were thinking about going back to school, I didn’t think you were being serious. I thought you were just looking,” she said softly. I looked back at her and hated that she looked betrayed. 

“I didn’t think I was being serious either. But then I filled out a couple of applications for shits and giggles and… The one school I wanted to go to… They just sent me an email letting me know I’m accepted and to let them know if I’m being serious.”

“Does Wes know?” 

“No, he doesn’t. I was gonna tell him tonight when we got home,” I nervously replied back. I looked down at my fingers before I began pulling at them.

“Do you want to go?”

“Yeah, kinda. I mean. I could go to school and learn more and become an actual vet,” I explained, almost saying exactly what my dad said weeks ago at this point. “But at the same time… That means moving and leaving everything behind.” 

“You should do what you think you should do. And if you think you should move to New Hampshire, then you should do that. I’m not gonna hate you or be mad at you for wanting to further your education. But you should talk to Wes about it. He’ll probably give you some old man advice about all this.”

“He’s not that old, Jess,” I scowled as I looked at her. She looked back at me with a smile and shrugged.

“Okay, fine. I’m just saying. Talk to him about it. If anyone can convince you to do the right thing, it’s gotta be Wes.”

part twenty-four

[mello-jello]

hi jello!! what about post timeskip levihan? commander hanji is working very hard and rarely, rarely sleeps (let alone eats and bathes properly. its worse than before now though.).

what if one time levi discovers hanji passed tf out due to sheer exhaustion in the most weird and random of places. he doesn’t want to wake them up bc hanji def needs the rest so he carries/tucks her into bed.🥺❤️

JAZZY thank you for the prompt! I kind of combined it with this one too:

Thank you, Anon!

Preview:

Hange gave a small laugh before saying, “Thank you Levi, I feel much better now.”

“Tch, you haven’t even done what we came here to do,” Levi scoffed.

Hange made a confused sound.

“Drop the dish.”

It had been 3 years since Shiganshina. Levi climbed into the carriage and sat across from Hange, who was still reading through her notes from the long and grueling meeting that lasted for the better part of the day. All the highest ranking military officials had been called to the capital to discuss Paradis’s best course of action. Queen historia was there, along with her staff, advisors, and of course Zackley. Levi had been to plenty of these meetings before, but this time was different in a bit of a distressing way.

Over the years, Levi had watched Erwin defend the scouts countless times. From questionable means of gathering information, to explaining away hundreds of lives lost, he always had an answer for everything and he always managed to leave with a favourable image. It was something Levi truly admired and even envied about Erwin.

But now he had been watching Hange flounder. She has indeed improved over the last 3 years, but she still doubts herself and while it might not be known to those around her, Levi can’t help but feel sympathetic to her situation. Today however, the other officials had been particularly ruthless.

“Take a break, Hange,” Levi ordered. Hange just sighed. Then her stomach growled. “Have you eaten today?”

“Uuuuuuuhhh,” Hange mused as she genuinely struggled to remember.

“Tch, there’s your answer,” Levi crossed his arms. The rest of the officials had a big dinner scheduled for tonight, but of course the Survey Corps got shafted and had to leave early in order to prepare. Hange met his eyes again with an exhausted look he was all too familiar with.

“How have you been sleeping?”

“Not great,” she admitted. Levi’s stomach sank. He had dealt with his own insomnia his whole life, but it seems worse on Hange. Perhaps it was the stark contrast from her former bubbly and loud personality. Hange pinched the bridge of her nose and let out another long sigh. Levi couldn’t help feeling inadequate and helpless. He rarely got himself to sleep, how could he help Hange?

Levi looked out the window at the setting sun when he got an idea. He realized what Hange had been neglecting while trying to be a good commander. Something that wasn’t just eating and sleeping. Something that was unique to Hange.

“Hange, there’s one more thing you need to do before we leave.”

Hange raised an eyebrow.

Levi told the driver to wait for them and escorted Hange to the dining hall.

“Levi, we were technically invited, but I don’t think showing up for food after we already said goodbye is a very good look for us,” Hange practically whispered.

Levi opened the doors and they were greeted with a sweet aroma of bread, appetizers, and whatever was going to be the main dish. Hange’s mouth watered. The long elegant table was decorated with ornate candles, beautiful china, crystal glasses, and there were 4 sets of cutlery for each place setting.

“Relax, they won’t be here just yet. They will all be busy getting dressed for dinner.”

Hange grabbed a bread roll and took a huge bite, not bothering to chew before she commented, “I never understood ‘dressing for dinner’ ugh. What’s the point?”

Levi was about to make a half hearted comment about how Hange could never fit in with “civilized” society, but he stopped himself when he saw she was eating and was a little bit more relaxed. He found a small plate of savoury looking appetizers and handed it to her. She immediately took one.

“MMM, Levi!” she exclaimed, pointing at the plate. She popped another in her mouth before saying, “you gotta try these!”

Levi put up a hand and said, “you enjoy.”

Hange enthusiastically cleared the whole platter in less than a minute, and Levi was watching her, endeared at the behaviour. He had missed this side of her. Despite how gross it was, there was a glimpse of the carefree Hange he once knew. A small hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Then Hange belched.

“Disgusting,” Levi waved the air in front of his nose.

Hange gave a small laugh before saying, “Thank you Levi, I feel much better now.”

“Tch, you haven’t even done what we came here to do,” Levi scoffed.

Hange made a confused sound.

“Drop the dish.”

Hange’s one eye widened as she processed what Levi was saying.

“C’mon, you need to blow off some steam. They were total assholes to you today, and for what? You didn’t know the exact amount of your food budget? And yet,” Levi gestured to the banquet. He then picked up a delicate looking wine glass. He held his arm outstretched, and loosened his grip, letting it crash to the ground. “Oops.”

A mischievous smile stretched across Hange’s lips. “Oops,” she mimicked Levi and let the empty platter fall to the floor, breaking into dozens of pieces. She slowly started to lap around the long luxurious set up, like a predator admiring her prey before pouncing.

“Right? And Nile, ugh, what a hypocrite! Giving me shit for not knowing about that small thing, belittling me in front of everyone,” Hange snapped a salad plate against the edge of the table. “It wasn’t too long ago when he would have been the first to admit he had no idea what the first interior squad were up to! We had to find out for ourselves. Erwin was almost hanged!” Hange kicked a chair over on its side.

“Yeah, fuck Nile,” Levi egged her on. He took a seat at the head of the table and started sipping from one of the water glasses.

“Is this his spot?”

Levi shrugged but Hange was already pouring out a glass of wine all over the white seat, staining it a deep crimson. Levi hid his delight behind another sip.

“And did you catch what he said at the end? ‘Some of us have wives to get home to’”, she imitated in a mocking tone as she casually pushed a platter of dumplings off the table. “Yeah, run home, Nile. Run home to Erwin’s SLOPPY SECONDS!”

Levi blew water out of his nose, and before he could react, Hange reached under the short side of the table and flipped it over, sending its contents hurtling across the room. Hange was elated at the result, laughing almost maniacally.

“Idiot,” Levi hissed, grabbing Hange’s wrist and leading her out the side door. He heard footsteps, and so he instinctively dove into nearby shrubbery, taking Hange down with him.

They hid in the bushes for minutes, Levi pressing his hand to suppress Hange’s uncontrollable laughter. It had been so long since she’d laughed like this. It was infectious and Levi might have actually laughed himself, were it not for the fear of getting caught. He had no problem telling the MPs where to shove it, but he didn’t want Hange to get in trouble. Her whole body was convulsing, and it was rattling the leaves around her. Levi used all his body weight to stop her jerky movements.

After about another minute of total silence, Hange tapped Levi’s arm, signalling to let go. He was hesitant, but he obliged. Hange drew a couple deep breaths, fanning herself, trying to calm down from laughing so hard. Levi was transfixed by the way the moonlight danced on her tear-stained face. They stared at each other for a moment before Hange snickered once more, causing Levi to cover her mouth yet again. “You’re impossible,” he said, pushing her head back down.

Once the coast was clear, they ran back to their carriage, hand in hand. Partly because Levi wanted Hange to keep up, and partly because it felt nice to hold her hand. They ducked their heads until they were off of the main roads. A few minutes later, Hange started giggling again.

“What?” Levi asked.

Hange bit her lip playfully as she reached into her coat and pulled out a bottle of expensive wine she must have swiped from the banquet.

Levi rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help his smile. She looked like a child that just got away with stealing more dessert. She looked joyful for the first time in a long time. She yanked out the cork and took a swig before offering the bottle to Levi. He graciously accepted and tasted the wine for himself. It was too sweet for his taste, but he couldn’t deny that it was spectacular.

“That’s nice,” he commented.

“Pfft! It tastes the same as the cheap stuff!” Hange scoffed as she took the bottle back. Any other time, Levi would have teased her and started an argument, but not today. He wanted to cherish this moment. He leaned over to look at the stars through his window. Not a bad ending to an otherwise terrible day.

After Shiganshina, he and Hange had lost so much. Their comrades, friends; life as they knew it had completely changed and they barely had a moment’s breather to come to grips with it all. Levi was unfortunately accustomed to it, but Hange wasn’t. Hange had been so strong through all of this and Levi wanted to find the right words to tell her. Maybe it was the exhaustion they both felt; maybe it was the close proximity, but for some reason, somehow, Levi felt a tiny bit of courage surge through his veins.

“Hey, Hange, I-”

When he turned to look at her, she was fast asleep, neck crooked as she cradled the bottle of wine. Levi smiled at her. She looked peaceful, like she was getting quality sleep. He took the bottle from her arms and gently maneuvered her to a more comfortable, lying down position. He removed his jacket and draped it over her, as a make-shift blanket.

“Goodnight, Four-Eyes,” he mumbled to himself and returned to his seat. Hange slept the whole way home. When they finally arrived in the southern barracks, Levi couldn’t bring himself to wake her up. He quickly ran their luggage up to their rooms, and came back for Hange.

Being as gentle as he could, he scooped up the commander and ignored the curious look he got from the carriage driver. She was taller than him, and her long limbs made the trek a little difficult, but he was determined. Her steady breaths tickled the skin of his neck.

He carried her up the winding staircase and into her quarters. He lowered her on the bed, careful not to go too fast. He cradled her head for a split second longer than he needed too. He took off her long boots one at a time, placing them silently on the floor at the end of the bed. He undid the top two buttons of her jacket and shirt, just for comfort. Then he pulled the blanket up to her chin, and tucked around the sides.

Finally, he removed her glasses and eyepatch, caressing the tender skin underneath. Placing them on her night stand, he got up to leave. The door hinge creaked as he opened it, and Hange stirred.

“Mmm Levi?” She called out.

Levi wasn’t sure if she was actually awake, or if she was sleep-talking. He was still deciding whether he should answer when she continued, “Thank you, Levi. For everything.”

“You too, Hange,” he spoke just above a whisper, as he closed her door.

[myherowritings]

ok this might sound like a dumb request but i thought it would be funny so reader is married to bakugou and you go to his agency and the new receptionist is mean to you and bakugou goes up to the receptionist and they are like “what a bitch” and bakugou just goes “that was my wife”

pairing: pro hero!bakugou katsuki x female!reader

author’s note: give me pro hero bakugou or give me death. lolol. thank you for the request! it wasn’t dumb at all, i found it hilarious and fun to write. ^-^ plus, PRO HERO BAKUGOU. what more can one need? xx sofia

[coming up next: secretary/manager!reader request bc that trope owns me]

“Don’t tell me that idiot forgot his lunch again…”

Grumbling under your breath, you sighed as you spotted his red bento box sitting in the refrigerator. It was right next to his favorite water bottle with a sticky note in your handwriting that read, ‘DON’T FORGET YOUR LUNCH, BAKA xoxo’.

And yet, there it was. Neglected in the fridge.

You realized maybe you should’ve placed the sticky note on the door so he could see it before leaving, but hindsight was 20/20 after all.

It wasn’t that Katsuki was forgetful, per se– In fact, he was the exact opposite of that. He was observant and attentive, even when he tried to appear like he wasn’t. But with the recent developments in his hero agency as well as an unusual spike of crime in the Shibuya ward, his hands have been quite full lately.

You noticed he came home later looking more tired than usual, but the determined spark in his eyes never wavered. That was something you had always admired about him.

What you didn’t so much admire, however, was when Bakugou let his motivation to be the best take the driver’s seat while his sleep and wellbeing got shoved in the trunk.

“How are you supposed to save the world and be the Number One Hero if you don’t fucking feed yourself?” you scolded, even though he was at work and couldn’t hear you.

Today, you took a very rare and much needed day off from work because–unlike your husband–you knew it was okay to take a break if you really needed it. And while you planned to stay home and finish reading your current book, you supposed you could take a break from relaxing and deliver Katsuki his lunch.

In record time, you changed out of your pajamas and grabbed the bento box from the refrigerator, making sure you grabbed your house keys before leaving to catch the train.

You sighed, resting your head against the window of the crowded train. “The things I do for this man.”

Okay– You didn’t exactly need to bring his lunch to him. You very well knew Bakugou was capable of running to the convenience store and grabbing a somewhat filling meal, but they weren’t made with love. This one was.

Besides, you enjoyed visiting him at the agency. It was nice to see him in his element, and you got along with all of the staff. Especially that one receptionist of his! She was a lovely older lady who always had the best sweets to give.

But when you stepped foot inside his office, bento box and water bottle in hand, she was nowhere in sight.

Instead, you saw a much younger woman typing away at the monitor.

“Hi, there!” you greeted, a warm smile on your face as you peered at her name badge. Hayashi. “Did Sugiyama-san take the day off?”

She barely spared you a glance. “Sugiyama-san no longer works here. Are you lost or something?”

You let out a forced laughter. “No, I’m just looking for Katsuki– Ground Zero.”

The clicking sound of the keyboard stopped and Hayashi turned her attention to you, eyeing you up and down with what seemed like a disdainful look on her face. You blinked.

“Ground Zero isn’t doing any fan signings right now, sweetheart.”

Bristling at her condescending tone, the smile on your face slowly slipped. “Actually, sweetheart, I’m here to bring Kacchan his lunch.”

Hayashi narrowed her eyes. “We don’t accept food as fanmail, but you can always try the dumpster in the alleyway.”

“Excuse me?” you said, voice raised in a sharp tone. If this was Katsuki’s new receptionist, you were going to have to ask him who the fuck would give her the job. “This isn’t fanmail, this is his lunch which he forgot at our home! And even if it was fanmail, you have no right to be so rude to those who look up to Ground Zero and view him as–”

“I’m a little too busy for a lecture right now, miss,” she interrupted with a fake smile, turning back to her screen. “But you can put whatever you have to say in a letter.”

“Keep talking and I’ll put something up your–”

“What’s going on here?”

You froze at his voice, slowly turning your head to face a stern-looking Bakugou with his arms folded over his chest. The glare on his face directed towards his receptionist was so scalding, even you were sympathetic for her.

“Hi, honey,” you greeted with a smile, his gaze softening when his eyes met yours. “You forgot your–”

“Ground Zero!” Hayashi cut you off with a gasp, not seeming to realize the deep pile of shit she was already in. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

The wrinkle between Bakugou’s brow reappeared as he scowled at her. “What do you want?”

Not noticing his menacing look, she pointed her index finger at you and continued, “This lady stormed in here and starting making outrageous claims and threatening me! Can you believe that? What a bitch.”

Katsuki blinked.

You gaped. Not so much at her uncalled for words, but her unprofessionalism. Who would use that terminology in front of their boss?

“This lady you’re calling a bitch?” His eyes narrowed into slits. “She’s my wife.”

There was a moment of silence where the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Bakugou was so angry you could hear the popping noises sounding from his forearms, and Hayashi’s face was a sickly pale when she realized the gravity of her words.

“Now, would you like to repeat what you just said, Hayashi?” he asked, voice low and biting.

She shook her head meekly. “N-No, Ground Zero, s-sir.”

“That’s what I thought.” With one final glower in her direction, Bakugou walked over to you, placing his warm hands on your upper arms and holding you close. “Are you okay?”

You nodded, greeting him with a quick peck on the cheek as you felt him begin to calm down. To ease the tension, you gave him a smile, holding up a neatly wrapped bento box in a red furoshiki. “You forgot your lunch again.”

With a short exhale of laughter, he accepted the food with a shake of his head.

“You have to make sure you’re eating well,” you scolded, patting his cheek gently. “If you keep forgetting your food, I’m going to start to think you’re doing it on purpose so I visit you more often.”

“I would never.”

“Sure, you wouldn’t.”

He rolled his eyes, but his annoyed look didn’t seem as genuine when there was a smile threatening to form on his face. “Want to head up to my office for lunch? I can call off work early and we can go home after.”

You beamed, lighting up at the idea of Katsuki taking a much needed break from work, even if just for a few hours. “Sounds perfect.”

As you intertwined your fingers with his and walked out of the foyer, Bakugou turned around and called for his receptionist.

“Oh– Right. Hayashi?”

She bolted upright, smoothing her hair down with a cautious look. “Yes, sir?”

“You’re fired.”

[hatsukeii]

I've been thinking about slytherin! Tsukishima dating a slytherin! S/o who joined the death eater because their parent force 'em. And they were so depressed and always crying every night, then tsukishima noticed and then comfort 'em. They ended up ran away with tsuki and joined the battle of hogwarts to fight against voldemort. Oh my god i love this>-

Okay I love this PLUS I’m a Slytherin (according to Pottermore) BUT I have a confession

I never finished the Harry Potter series bc I couldn’t be bothered w Order Of The Phoenix THERE I SAID IT SUE ME UNFOLLOW ME IM A DISGRACE

I DID watch almost all the movies though

But don’t attack me if this one isn’t like 100% canonically accurate though please I cannot

Btw I’m not gonna do the fight YET I might make a part two idk lolol it’s a bit too much for one fic and I need to go read a summary of the fight-

Run away with me// Slytherin!Tsukishima Kei x Slytherin!Reader

Word Count: 1800+

Warnings: None

Summary: Controlling parents are never good, especially when they force you to side with evil.

“They forced you to do what?” Tsukishima was beyond furious. Fuming. He was absolutely ready to murder your parents if you didn’t do it first.

“Kei, stay quiet! They’re gonna kill us both if they hear you!”

“Do I look like I give a flying fuck right now?”

You looked at the floor, the guilt slowly consuming you as you avoided his piercing glare. How could you face him, when you broke such a huge promise you made to one of the most emotionally unstable people you know? Fiddling with your fingers, you racked your brain, hoping to find a sensible explanation for what you did. “I didn’t have a choice! You really think I would give up on everything? Give up on you, my friends, my education, my hopes and dreams, just to fight alongside Voldemort? You seriously think I would be heartless enough, to kill innocent wizards?” If anyone was around and heard your words, you would’ve been sent to Dumbledore instantly, maybe even gotten executed for treason. Just the slightest mention of He Who Shall Not Be Named, or the death eaters, was enough to trigger almost all the staff and students, especially with the situation going on in the wizarding world currently. With Voldemort back from the dead and on the loose, Hogwarts has one upped their security, the atmosphere tenser than ever.

Hearing the click of a door, Tsukishima clamped his large hand over your mouth, the other gripping your waist as he pulled you into the tall grass, putting a finger over his lips. From the hut, stumbled out a wobbly, possibly drunk Hagrid, a huge ass axe in hand. “WHAT’S THAT EVIL SHIT YER TALKIN’ BOUT HUH? COME ON OUT MUGGERS! I’LL GIVE YER A PIECE O’ THIS!” The man swung the axe from side to side, as if he was expecting it to hit someone. Not seeing blood on the blade, the shaggy haired wizard mumbled a few curses, swinging the wooden door open as he stumbled back in, tripping on his own two feet as he dropped the axe far away, the blade sinking itself into the wooden material of his little hut. Scrambling back to his feet, he grabbed the doorknob angrily, slamming the door shut with a heavy thud and a gust of wind.

The blond poked his head out slightly, looking around to check for people that might be lurking in the darkness. Sighing in relief, he sat himself back down on the ground, crossing his arms. Sweating, you bit on your nails nervously, anticipating his next words.

“Why was I in the dark about this?”

“Because you would leave me.”

His brows knitted together in confusion and pain.

“I won’t. I’m just mad.”

“You would if you knew more about me.”

Tsukishima may be a Slytherin, but that didn’t mean he wanted it. You saw the incredibly disheartened look on his face when the sorting hat blurted out the house. He refused to talk to anyone for days. He got in trouble countless of times for talking back to Snape. Everyone, even you, hated him. He was disrespectful, irritating, provoking, and inconsiderate to everyone that crossed paths with him. It wasn’t until months later, did you realise the reasoning behind his rotten attitude for his house. A fight broke out between Hinata and Tsukishima, with Hinata screaming about how the latter had no right to be disrespectful to his seniors. That was the exact moment, when the entire school was graced with his story. Later that night, you approached him, apologetic for your attitude towards him and hoping to understand more. Turns out both his parents were killed by death eaters. He was eight, and watched as his parents burned to ashes in front of him, the two murderers laughing to the screams and cries of agony. He was quick to run to safety, the two wizards too occupied with killing his parents to pay any attention to him. Since then, he’s never had a proper home, running errands for whoever would pay him even just the minimal amount of money. His dream was to get into Hogwarts, and kill the ones that eliminated his parents from the world, but his one condition was to never get into Slytherin. He was not going to associate himself with those disdainful, cold blooded murderers known as the death eaters. It wasn’t a surprise he would be furious about this.

You were now a shaking mess, not even noticing the tears that were streaming down your skin. The moon reflected off Tsukishima’s glasses, a look of fury and sorrow buried in his dull irises. The two of you sat in silence, not knowing what to say to the other. You cursed yourself. Why did fate have to do this? Why did fate have to send your soul to a pair of death eaters? The two death eaters that bragged to eight year old you about the victims they tortured, and eventually murdered, masking the truth and portraying it as if it was something to be proud of? Why did you have to fall for their victim’s son? Why were they so goddamn desperate to turn you into one of them? You’ve known all three of the Unforgivable Curses since you were merely a preteen. You constantly feared for your life in Hogwarts. You knew how powerful your parents were. If you disobeyed them, they could’ve had all your friends, everyone you’ve ever cared for, dead in a heartbeat. As a result of that, you never revealed anything about your family, not wanting to give anything away. However, that didn’t work with Tsukishima. Infatuation is a dangerous feat. Before you knew it, the two of you were meeting in Hagrid’s field every night, getting to know each other better. Your parents being death eaters accidentally slipped out one night, and for the next week, Tsukishima refused to talk to you at all. He avoided you everywhere, sat as far away from you as possible at dinner, left you waiting for hours in the field. And yet despite his cold attitude towards you, not once did you leave him alone. Maybe that was what he really admired about you.

A sob erupted from your throat, breaking the silence of the dark, cloudless night. You were done. You were done with this. You were done with hiding your problems from him. You were done with hiding your past, your parents, your feelings, everything. The suffocating guilt, the strained throb of your heart, you were sorry. You were sorry for not telling him anything earlier on. You hated yourself for being born to two cold blooded murderers. You hated yourself for acting weak in front of him right now, but the chord just snapped. The thin, thin chord that held your emotions just gave out, and you burst into tears. Hot, salty, flowing tears. You fell forward as your hands held you up, head bowed down and shaking. Your tears wouldn’t stop, flinging themselves onto the floor as Tsukishima just stared.

“WHY? WHY DID I HAVE TO BE BORN LIKE THIS? I CAN’T DO THIS! I DON’T WANT TO! I HATE THEM! MURDERERS! FUCKING KILLERS! I CAN’T BELIEVE THEM, SERIOUSLY! OH, AND WHY, OF ALL PEOPLE, DID I HAVE TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU? WHY YOU? YOU SHOULD HATE ME! THAT’S HOW IT SHOULD BE!”

Salty droplets clumped up in your eyelashes, rolled to the corners of your lips, into your mouth, you could taste the warm liquid on your tongue. The blond was frozen. Never had he ever seen you like this, crying and wailing as you put yourself down for something that was out of your control. He was confused, because one thing lingered in his mind.

“I should hate you? What are you talking about?”

Chuckling hopelessly, you sniffled, enjoying the last few seconds of his obliviousness.

“Oh yeah, I never told you. My parents killed yours and bragged about it at home afterwards. I was eight.”

Something in Tsukishima’s heart dropped as his mouth staggered open. “Your parents were the killers?” You continued to laugh manically, screams emitting from your throat despite feeling empty inside. “Yeah, so hate me. Leave me. Don’t make yourself suffer any more.” Tears glistened in his eyes as his words got caught in his throat. Her parents were the murderers. Let her go. She’s becoming one of them as well. “Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!” Gripping his head, Tsukishima screamed, trying to block out the deafening voice in his head that urged him to just get up and walk away, break all ties with you, throw everything into the abyss, never to be seen again. The thoughts were dizzying as he fell to the ground, curled up. “I’m...sorry. I’m so, so... sorry.” His cries of agony never stopped. Desperate to comfort him, you slowly got up to your knees, leaning forward and grabbing his shoulders as you forced him to look at you. Your eyes were desperate, shaking and watery. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I don’t want to become one of them. I don’t care if you hate me, or leave me, or kill me. You have all the right reasons to. Just please... help me.” What you expected, was for him to fling you away. What he did, was lunge forward, arms wrapping around your neck as his head landed on the side of it, tears making your skin wet as he continued to cry.

“Kei, I’m so sorry.”

No reply.

“It’s okay, I’ll love you even if you don’t feel the same way anymore.”

“No.”

His mumble sent vibrations down your neck, waking your entire body up. Strained breaths made their way into the cold night air. Wrapping your arms around him, silent tears continued to roll down your cheeks as you held him tighter, refusing to let go.

“Run away with me. I’m done with all this. I’m not gonna leave you, ever. I love you. I don’t care if your parents killed mine, or if you’re being forced to join the death eater. Come with me. We can run away to who knows where. No one will find us, maybe finally we’ll be free. We can get fake identities, hide in the city, I don’t care. I’ll keep my owl here, when the school finally fights the death eaters, he’ll tell us, then we’ll come back. I’m sick of constantly waiting for evil to knock on our door. Let’s just go and live how we want. Run away with me, (Y/N).”

An arm extended towards you, willing for you to take it.

“You’re absolutely insane Kei, I’ll come with you.”

Grabbing his hand, you hoisted yourself up, giving him another tight hug.

“You wanna go now?”

“Yeah, let’s just go.”

And the two of you run.

You run, and run.

Away from the school.

Away from your friends.

Away from your belongings.

And you don’t stop.

Tags:

@sunshines-and-tatertots @justachillgirl @trashcanweeb @izzyphantomgamer @mariechan123 @macaronnv @itmekisuu @kaylacinderella @random-fandomlover @inlwlevi @bokutokoutarou @for-ests @emsvegetables @talks-a-lot-of-stuff @just-another-bored-writer @agentvicinity @sakusasgarbage @thirstyvolleyballhoe @tiredgr3mlin @animebsposts @artsamber @sneezefiction @xonfusedsoul @iwaigroomi @poppirocks @burnt-tomato @ewfilthymundane @skyeackermans

It’s probs just because I wrote it but I think you can see how I was slowly dying or maybe you can’t.

Apologies for the inaccuracy AHSHJDGAYGSDhAS-

Have fun reading:)

[choices-love-affair]

Also 77 Bc Mc would totally mess that up 😂

@openheart12 also asked for this and #50.

This was a lot of fun, thankyou for the prompts!

#50 – Why are you naked?

#77 – Who did the laundry? My favourite shirt is pink.

(Prompts in bold)

This is an Open Heart story, Ethan x MC (Lorelei Stannaway)

Bearable

Ethan sighed loudly as he pulled out of the staff carpark and turned onto the street, making his way home. It had been a long, tedious day and he cringed at the thought that it still wouldn’t be over even when he got home. He and Lorelei had been invited to attend a Board dinner to mingle with the most prestigious and richest entrepreneurs of Boston to discuss potential deals that would help continue financially supporting the diagnostic team. It still didn’t fit well with him, but he realised that somethings were bigger than him. Lorelei usually accompanied Ethan home on these drives home but today was her day off and getting home to finally see her would be the best part of his day he thought. They had been dating a year now and things were comfortable, easy even. He became lost in his train of thought has he followed the regular route back to the apartment he now shared with Lorelei.

The ding of the elevator brought him out of his reverie, and he trudged up to the door, unlocking and pushing it open, before he came to halt in the doorway, hand still on the handle as he took in the scene before him.

“productive day?” he asked sarcastically

“Hey! How was your day?” she chirped back, not moving her eyes from the screen, enthralled in what she was watching.

Ethan glanced at the TV quickly “That looks… like an abomination of a show, Lorelei. Watch too much and you’ll lose your magnificence” he rolled his eyes as he turned to finally close the door, place his keys on the table and his satchel bag on the ground.

“You and I both know that could never be possible” she gave him a lazy smirk “Now SHHHH!” she shot back, waving one hand at him, the other hand shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

Ethan balked at her “have you moved at all today?” he quizzed

“Yes, I have actually, if you must know!” she clipped, defensively.

“Uh-huh” he chided as he walked past her on the couch and headed to the kitchen, he curiously opened the freezer and checked inside “Did you eat ALL of the ice cream?” he asked as he turned back around to her, perplexed “ and why are you naked?!” He quizzed again slightly irritated now,  shaking his head in disbelief and blinking a few times at the sight of her, sprawled across the couch, “we have that dinner tonight, come on!” he huffed, running his hands through his hair as he started tidying up her mess from her day.

“Ethan, first, I am not naked… I have knickers on” she defended herself nonchalantly “secondly, it was my first day off in what feels like forever, don’t come in here like a grumpy old man and ruin that for me, relax! Thirdly, there wasn’t that much ice cream left to begin with after your assault on it last night. Don’t think I didn’t hear you, Mr ‘I don’t like ice cream” she air quoted “and fourthly! Judge Judy is going to TOWN on this man! Come and watch it with me” she said as patted the couch, still barely acknowledging him.

He just stared at her, leaning on the countertop with both hands, hair slightly dishevelled, face drawn and tired as he watched her, cool and unimpressed. Lorelei glanced up at him quickly before her head snapped back to him “wooow… you look like shit!” she crowed at him.

“Thankyou, I love you too” he rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the bench “I’m going to go have a shower. Get ready!” he called back as he made his way down the hall and to the shower.

Fifteen minutes later he exited the bathroom and made his way to the laundry, “Lorelei! Get ready, Christ…” he sighed, walking past the loungeroom on his way, noticing that she still hadn’t moved.

“Yep, almost finished”

“I’ll just go without you.”

“No, you won’t” she called back confidently.

Silence filled the apartment except the sound of the TV show Lorelei was watching, when Ethan walked back into the loungeroom, holding a shirt up in his hand and standing slightly off to the side of the TV.

“Lorelei…” he asked softly, something in his tone that made her lurch internally and gained her attention, although she didn’t dare look at him… she already knew.

“Lorelei, who did the laundry? My favourite shirt is pink” he asked curiously, his voice saturated in disbelief. He already knew too but was interested in how she would react.

“Ummm…” she stalled

“Lorelei… look at me…”

She slowly glanced at him, scrunching her face up with guilt “I was just trying to help, I’m so sorry baby…” she looked at him, genuine and apologetic “I didn’t realise my underwear ended up in there. I’ll replace it” She assured him “… the shirt, not the underwear” she added cheekily.

He watched her intently for a few moments, deciding on the best way to respond. On one hand he was annoyed, pissed even. On the other, nobody in his adult life had ever cared enough for him to want to do his washing. He considered the events of the day, how tired and drained he felt, when he eventually decided to move, letting out a huge sigh and let the shirt slip from his hand to floor, before walking over to Lorelei on the couch, moving the bowl of popcorn from her stomach and curling up next to her, resting his head on her naked chest and nuzzling himself against her until he was comfortable.

Shocked at first regarding his sudden actions, Lorelei then wrapped her arms around his shoulders and began to caress his hair softly.

“bad day, baby?” she probed gently

“The worst” he replied quietly, squeezing her a little harder.

“Is this making you feel better?” she asked softly

He nodded “definitely” as he nuzzled his face once more against her soft skin.

A long time passed in silence, Lorelei since turning the TV off and softly rubbing his head and back comfortingly before he sighed loudly and spoke again “we still have that dinner tonight though, come on” he huffed, lacking enthusiasm as he pushed himself off of her and the couch and made his way back to the bedroom, picking his shirt up on the way.

“What about that?” she queried, pulling an awkward face at him.

“Fuck it, I’ll wear it. It’s endearing.” He shrugged as he trudged back to their bedroom, the shirt hanging from his hand, the days events finally defeating him.

“You should probably know” she called after him “the culprit was the red knickers, your favourite ones.”

“Well, that makes things a little more bearable. You’re forgiven.” he quipped back.

Taglist: @ethandaddyramsey @trappedinfandoms @openheart12

[thegreatescape]

SHARE THE LOVE CONVENTION

Here’s what happened at the Share The Love Con in Milan! :) [Sorry for my terrible English lol]

At the con I was in the front row with my friends. It was amazing but at the same time I felt a little bit observed lol Pietro was the first one who greeted me and then Nicholas recognized me ;; 

After the panel, my friend and I decided to take a picture with Federico because he was too beautiful with that blue sweater and when we went to take the picture he gave us a tight hug that I will remember forever. I don't know why but I was more nervous than the previous times... maybe because he was even more beautiful than usual lol 

Then we queued for the Fede + Rocco duo and I don’t know where I found the courage but I showed them a photo in which two people were kissing a girl on the cheek and this happened sdifhoisadpo 

Damn Fede has really soft lips, I cry just thinking about it. I left the room shaking like a leaf lol Then we went to the autographs of Nicholas, Greta and Beatrice. Greta and Bea were a wonderful surprise. They are both so kind and sweet. When Greta saw my drawing she gave me a hug and said ‘thank you’ a hundred of times. She was sooo cute! ;; 

Even Beatrice thanked me so much and complimented me and said “You drew me so hot!” And I was like "Well, you are" haha ​​

Then I went to Nicholas and this happened:

Nicholas: Hi! I'm a big fan of yours!

And I smiled at him sooo embarrassed.

Nicholas: I don't know how to thank you! I’m very tired after a drawing, you draw 10 drawings every day! You're very good.

Then Greta arrived at his table and said: Did you see my beautiful drawing with the pink background?

And he was like: Mine is gray! :(

Me: I made the backgrounds based on the shirt you had in the photos and you always have a black shirt.

Nicholas: I have to do a photoshoot then haha

Nicholas then asked me to show some of my drawings to Bea and when I showed her my Instagram profile she remembered those I had done for her and Greta added: Oh my God you made me the drawing of me and Nini kissing? It's beautiful! ; _;

This is Nicholas’ autograph. He drew me Luchino eating pizza’s crusts LOL

Then we went to the autographs of Pietro, Fede and Rocco and I have to say that this was one of the most beautiful moments of the Convention. When Pietro saw me he greeted me with an "Hello darling, how are you?" And before I answered he said: "Did you bring me something?" And when I gave him the drawing he said: “Oh my God, it's awesome! This is a new one!”

Me: “Well, yes, I couldn't post it before, it had to be a surprise!”

Pietro: “Can I keep it? ;)”

Me: “Sure it's for you! Also, sorry if I tag you on so many drawings.”

Pietro: “It makes me so happy! You drew the futuristic black and white one, the one where I’m in Venice, the one with the flag you gave me last time and ... this, right? (he remembered all of them ; ___;) And then he added: “But you drew Federico more :( AHAHAH”

Then I went to Fede and he said: “I know that yesterday was your birthday so… HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” And he sent me a kiss. I died. Then I gave him the drawing and he thanked me and he looked at me with a pleased smile saying: “What can I write here ..?” And he wrote me this beautiful autograph that I’ve to frame. 

Then, without saying anything, he got up and hugged me and it was a beautiful moment because I didn't want to let him go. Maybe that was the best hug- not only because it lasted longer but because I could tell him how grateful I was for everything.

Then I went to Rocco and he greeted me with a big smile saying: “Hello Giulia, how are you ?!” And I was actually dying inside so I immediately gave him the drawing and he said something like: “Wtf is this a drawing? Oh my God it’s amazing thank you so much” and he showed it to Fede.

Then in the afternoon there were other panels but for those I will make a special mentions at the end of the post.

Then there was Fede and Rocco meet & greet. It was pretty weird because we were all so shy and we didn’t know what to say so they told us something that happened on set during Marti and Nico reunion on the terrace in 2x09.

Fede: “Ludovico told us ‘Kiss!', so we did it. It was so romantic, but when we stopped, I noticed that I had Rocco's snot on my cheek. So I said: WHAT THE FUCK IS IT? THIS IS DISGUSTING! and the atmosphere was ruined.

Rocco: “It's true HAHAHA”

Fede: “I had your snot on me all the time! You were always crying!

Rocco: "Yes, there was an important exchange of body fluids. AHHA”

Then we went to eat the pizza with the cast. The first one who sat at our table was Federico. I was the first one to get the pizza and he said: “Well you're the birthday girl that’s why they gave you the pizza first”. I just smiled like an idiot and he said: “Eat it or it gets cold!"

Me: "No, I'm waiting for you …"

He: “But if it gets cold, it sucks”. (it sucked anyway haha)

Then me and my friends started arguing with him bc Federico claimed that the pizza has to be cut in 8 pieces (and we were cutting it in 4). Thankfully Pietro arrived and supported us and told Fede: “Stop being so annoying” ahah.

After that, there was the most embarrassing interaction that I've ever had with him. We looked at each other and he smiled, so I smiled back but I was too nervous to say anything. Basically we kept smiling for like 15 seconds and it all ended with an embarrassing silence :))))

Then Rocco sat right next to me and he was so… excited? Haha

Rocco: “Did you eat today?”

Me: “No, we were anxious…”

Rocco: “Why? C’mon we know each other now! We’re friends!” (I almost cried, I swear).

Then I showed him a bracelet that my friends bought me for my bday (a heart with the word ‘Sbedemmic’ written on it) and he enlightened and said: “Nooo! Oh my god! Sbedemmic !? A-ma-zing!”

Then we asked him how to pronounce “Maxence” and Rocco called him at out table and Maxence rushed to us leaning towards us and we were blown away because he has really beautiful eyes and honestly I didn't even listen to what he said ahaha

Then Nicholas joined us and said  "I want to sit right next to Giulia” (I wanted to hug him ;u;) and we talked about drawings and it was wonderful. Then at a certain point I don't remember what he wanted to ask Bea and he started to call her addressing a girl at the table next to ours and only after a while we pointed out that Bea was sitting on the other side of the room and he was like: “Who was I calling? The girl doesn't even have hair like Bea!” HAHAH

Before he left we hugged each other tight and we  thanked each other for everything.

Maxence is literally an elf. He is nice, funny and he gave me a lot of positivity. We asked him to take a photo all together and he immediately put the glass of wine down because “If my mom sees the picture she gets angry” xD He said he never had the chance to interact so much with the fans at the events and that he thinks it’s amazing to create a bond with us.

Then I apologized bc I tag him on a lot of drawings and he asked me “Wait, what did you draw?”

Before I answered him he started to jump on the chair saying “The raccoon one!?”

Me: “Yes, even the-”

He: “The one with the shirt! Come on, let me see it!”

So I showed him the drawing and he exclaimed: “YEEEEES! THIS ONE! YEEEEES! THE SHIRT!!!”

He thanked me and I closed instagram, but I had forgotten to change my background and I had a photograph of me with Federico.

Maxence saw it and said: “Is that your boyfriend?"

And I said: “I WISH!”

I swear I didn't want to say it out loud, but it was spontaneous. He widened his eyes and literally burst into laughing while I turned RED. I apologized saying it wasn’t my intention to say it out loud but he said that he got that bc he read the panic in my eyes as soon as I realized it, but he appreciated my spontaneity and he said that it will be our little secret xD (then we talked outside and we took a couple of photos, he even chose the poses AHAHAH but then we got caught and the staff told him to go inside xD).

1 December

The second day in the morning we went to the autographs of Robin and Lukas and they both thanked me so much for the drawings (I will never forget their expressions ;;). 

After giving Lukas the drawing he stood up and hugged me tight and he was the sweetest, with his beautiful and kind smile :’)

Then I took a photo with Nicholas 

and a duo with Maxence and Rocco where I asked for a group hug and Maxence said: A POLIPATA ?! (an Italian word that idk how to translate. Obviously Rocco taught him that haha it’s like “hugging like an octopus” lol)

The last photos were those with Federico. When I showed him the photo I wanted to do he made an expression that I will never forget a mix between a smile and ;) and he said: “Uh, today we are in the mood for kisses”. And of course I turned BRIGHT RED :DDD

The last activity of the day was the autograph with Maxence. He thanked me for the drawing and said "You made me a beautiful drawing, so I will also make your own beautiful drawing" and he made a stylized character of me ahaha

At the cocktail party Maxence was the first one to sit with us! He didn’t know what to say so he asked us to do a toast and we all said in chorus 'cin-cin' and he said: "Do you know that ‘cin-cin’ means vagina in Chinese?” Ahah This was the highlight of our conversation.

Then Nicholas and Rocco came at our table and we talked all the time about medicines and reflux lmao We looked like the geriatric department bc they said that all the cocktails tasted like medicines lol 

Then Pietro and Fede arrived, both sooo tired, but Fede greeted us with "Hello rays of sunshine!" And we were literally dying . Pietro said he was worried about not being able to return home because he would have arrived after midnight and he didn't have the keys. "I can't call someone and say "Hi, I'm the guy who lives upstairs" ahaha

Then we talked to Lukas and Robin and they were so cute ;; Lukas is a very interesting person, he has a pure soul and it was a pleasure to know him ;; 

In the end, Bea and Greta arrived and we gossiped a lot, especially about boys haha

Best moments of PANELs:

-Nicholas said his favorite word is Australopithecus Robustus and Greta said "Fregno" (it’s a slang for ‘hot’) xD

-Fede said his Spirit animal is a Golden Retriever and that Martino’s is a fox

-Fede made fun of Rocco because he spoke with metaphors that didn’t make any sense so Fede was like: Enough Rocco, enough! Stop it! THAT'S ENOUGH!

-We made a video for Bea and everyone cried in the room

-THE KARAOKE

-Fede said that Rocco didn’t know how to ride a bicycle and they had to shoot that scene a lot of times

-Fede complimented Rocco and then he gave the microphone to him saying: “Come on, I’m waiting.” Because he wanted to get compliments too haha

-Rocco sat in the audience and asked Fede the story of Bambi and Fede called him “Er Lucertola (lizard)” in revenge and said that the name of Bambi was born because of a toxic (Rocco haha)

-Pietro who answered BOH to all the questions haha

-When a girl mentioned the 4th season (even if we couldn’t) and everyone said to keep hoping and thanked us for fighting so much during these months and then Rocco said: Yes, thank you very much for the support. Without you it wouldn't have been pos— Everyone: ROCCO !!!!! haha

-When another girl talked about Massimo Reale -Dr. Spera- (referring to the photos he posted from the 4th season’s set) and then Bea said: She just wanted to know the name of Dr. Spera and yes, it’s Massimo Reale xD

-Rocco screaming SBEDEM

Here’s some pics I took at the panels :) 

Everything was AWESOME! I miss them all so much ;;

Please if you want to use one of these pics tag my instagram account:  here

[cryptid-cryptonomica]

Ned and Boyd late night waffle house date bc they both have insomnia pretty please!

I hope you know that we DO NOT have Waffle Houses in Canada and I did a lot more research for this than I should have. :P Thanks for asking! :)“Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like that," Boyd said, flicking a package of sugar at Ned’s face. It hit him on the nose, and fell back down into Ned’s coffee.

“You’re not using your words very well,” Ned replied, fishing the soggy package of sugar out of the cup. He set it on his napkin.

Boyd made a disgruntled noise, “Well, maybe I’d know how to use my words better if I’d gotten some fucking sleep recently.”

Ned gave Boyd a cheeky smile, “I also haven’t slept just as long as you have.”

“Fuck off,” Boyd said, bringing his cup of coffee up to his lips and taking a long drag of it.

Ned laughed, trying to keep it down as they were the only ones in the restaurant apart from the staff. He glanced over at the lone waitress, who was slumped behind the counter, with her head buried in her arms.

“Is she dead?” Boyd asked, following Ned’s gaze.

“I don’t think so.”

“Hmm. Pity,” Boyd said.

“Pity?”

“It’d be easier to rob the place if she were dead.”

“We’re not going to rob a fucking Waffle House, Boyd.”

“Why not? Think about it; waffles for days,” Boyd said, gesturing with his hands.

“You don’t even like waffles,” Ned said.

“Oh yeah, I don’t. Remind me again why we’re at a Waffle House, then?”

“This is the only place open at three in the morning and we’re hungry,” Ned said.

“Hmm,” Boyd said. He took another sip of his coffee, “Shall we order, then?”

Ned nodded, and stood up from the counter. He walked over to wear the waitress was and said, “Ma’am, we’re ready to order.”

She jolted upward, “Oh yes! Go back to your table, I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Ned smiled at her and headed back to to the table. Boyd was currently stalking the cream cups into a small pyramid. Ned sat back down and said, “Having fun?”

“I’m tired, Ned,” Boyd simply said.

The waitress arrived with another pot of coffee and a small notebook. She refilled both of their coffee cups and then said, “What can I get for you?”

“I’ll have a waffle,” Boyd said.

“Um… sir, which waffle?”

“I don’t care,” Boyd said, plopping his menu down.

“He’ll actually have the steak and eggs, with regular toast and hashbrowns,” Ned said, glaring at Boyd. “I will have the pecan waffle, thank you.”

The waitress looked from Boyd to Ned, and giving them an uncertain look. Her expression warped into a forced smile, and she said, “Coming right up, sir,” before she scurried away to the kitchen.

“Did you have to be an asshole?” Ned asked once she left.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware there were more than one kind of waffles,” Boyd said.

“Can you not read your menu?”

“You think I have the mental capacity to read after being awake for forty-eight hours?” Boyd demanded. He slapped the menu with his hand, making a loud noise as his knuckle rapped against the table, “Besides, they’re waffles, how fancy can waffles be?”

“We’re in a place called Waffle House, and you think they only have one kind of waffle?” Ned said.

“I. Have not. Slept. In. Forty-eight. Hours,” Boyd said through his teeth. He took his coffee and a couple of the cream cups from his pyramid and began to dump them in. He swirled his coffee around with his spoon and then downed it all in one go. “She forgot to ask how I wanted my steak.”

“I don’t think it really matters,” Ned said.

“If this place was any good, it’d matter,” Boyd said.

Ned pinched the bridge of his nose, “This isn’t a five-star establishment. If anything, it probably has negative stars. We just need food, and then we can get out of here.”

“Lying low is garbage,” Boyd said, “How fucking big is Texas, anyways?”

“Big,” Ned said.

“I hate America,” Boyd said. “With your Waffle Houses and your stupidly big States. Do you want to know how long it takes to drive across England?”

“How long?” Ned said, an amused smile on his face.

“Ten hours,” Boyd said, “For the entire country. If we drove ten hours now, we’d be in the middle of fucking Texas still.”

“Mhm,” Ned said. He picked up the soggy sugar package and forced it open. He dumped it in his coffee and slowly mixed it. He took a slow sip of his coffee.

A couple moments later, the waitress came back with two plates of food, “Sorry for your wait, sirs.”

“It’s no problem,” Ned said while Boyd gave the woman a seething glare. She gave Ned a nervous smile and then backed away to her spot by the counter.

Boyd looked down at his plate of food and said, “This looks like shit.”

“Just eat it,” Ned said.

Boyd obliged, and the two of them began their meal in silence. Ned watched as Boyd carefully sawed into his steak, leaving the toast and the hashbrowns untouched.

“Watching your weight?” Ned asked.

“You know I have to keep my waist trim,” Boyd replied, “Besides. You ordered the hashbrowns so you could eat them, not for me.”

“Oh, you know me too well,” Ned said. He finished his last bit of his waffle, and then reached his hand out. Boyd slid his plate over. Ned scraped the hashbrowns off of Boyd’s plate and onto his own, and then passed Boyd his plate back.

Boyd gave Ned an unimpressed look and went back to eating his steak. He finished it just as Ned finished his hashbrowns. Boyd frowned, “We waited thirty minutes for a meal that took us five minutes to eat.”

“Are you going to ask to speak to the manager?” Ned teased.

“No,” Boyd said. “But I’m going to ask that we never come back to a Waffle House ever again.”

“No Waffle Houses?”

“No,” Boyd said.

“Fair enough,” Ned said. Ned stood up, “I’m going to pay. Get the car started.” 

He tossed Boyd the keys.

They bounced off of his chest and onto the table. Boyd slowly looked from the keys to Ned, his hand slowly reaching out to grab the keys. He pulled them onto his lap and then got out of his seat. Ned tried not to laugh as Boyd walked out of the restaurant, muttering obscenities under his breath.

The waitress was ready behind the register. Ned fished out a few bills and handed them to her. She rang him through and passed him his change. “Have a good night, sir.”

Ned gave her a small salute and then left the establishment.

Boyd was sitting in the passenger seat, his head resting against the dashboard. 

Ned got into the driver’s seat and turned to his partner, “Where to?”

“Anywhere but a fucking Waffle House,” Boyd said.

Ned laughed and started the car.

[wetalkinboutbooks]

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Summary: People lived because she killed.

People died because he lived.

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. 

Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the king on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine. (Taken from Goodreads)

Our Ratings: 

 → Geena: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 → Kae: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: We Hunt the Flame is a rich Arabia inspired fantasy with characters that you easily fall for (like the two of us with Altair lmao). Personally, we wouldn’t classify the romance as an insta-love, it’s more of an insta-annoyance and gradual build up to feelings. The story keeps you on your toes and Hafsah does an amazing job at tying in different plot points together. Also, it’s got that amazing unlikely group of friends trope :’) SO if you haven’t already, check out this book we highly recommend it! 

Spoiler-Full Discussion Below...

The Good: 

→ The Premise and Characters

Kae: So we start off with Zafira hunting in the Arz, a forest that is full of darkness. Once you go into the Arz, there is no coming out. But our girl Zafira is a baddie and she can travel the Arz without much trouble. She can always find her way out. She hunts in the Arz for her village because it is an icy, barren land and it is their main source of food. The thing is, Zafira is a woman so no one can ever find out she is the famed Hunter of the Arz, or she’ll probs get like, banished. But her two best friends, Yasmine and Deen, know her secret and keep it safe. Along with her sister and bedridden mother. Zafira has acquired this wonderful hunting skill from her father, who taught her everything she knew so she could fend for herself and well… Those skills came in hand because he got lost in the Arz one day, kind of went crazy, stumbled out, then tried to kill his family. So Zafira’s mother did what she had to do and killed him to save her daughters. She (Zafira’s mother) has been plagued by nightmares since. 

Geena: Kae outlined the premise of Zafira’s story really well! On the other hand we have Nasir, the crown prince of Arawiya and one of the most feared assassins across the caliphates. He’s also hated by literally everyone in his life… especially his dad. Nasir was raised (See: forced) into becoming the Sultan’s weapon, killing anyone that dared to oppose him. We find out that Nasir’s mom, the Sultana, died ~mysteriously~ when he was young and after that his dad went batshit crazy essentially. Nasir does everything as a means to get his dad’s love and approval (even though he likes to pretend that he’s just doing shit just because ‘i have no life so might as well kill’). Nasir ends up falling for some servant girl, who’s tongue the Sultan serves to him in a golden box. After that he is very angsty like, “I can’t love anyone :( ” Or so he thinks. 

Kae: Then we have our secondary characters. Like, the ‘friends we made a long the way’ characters who all def were trying to kill one another but it’s cool now ‘cause they love each other :) 

Geena: The magical artifact was the magic of friendship :’)

Kae: LMAO YES. So we have Kifah, she is from Pelusia and she is a badass legendary warrior who is fast as lightniiiing, WILL ABSOLUTELY kick your ass with a staff (she won’t hesitate, BITCH) and she’s also really pretty and tall and she brings her own snacks and seasoning. I can relate because I too, bring seasoning and snacks when I know they will be needed. Kifah is funny, sarcastic, and one of the few people that has a witty retort to Altair and his tomfoolery. She also has a thing for Altair. 

Altair, we love him! He’s a big buff boi with pretty eyes and a dazzling smile. He also makes a lot of dick jokes and is an absolute CHILD. But we love him for it and so does Kifah. They have the hots for each other.  My boi doesn’t have good aim and he killed his homie on accident but we’ll get to that later. He is the #1 general in Ghameq’s (Nasir’s father) army and is ordered to tag along with Nasir on this unintentional road to friendship. He is the sunshine in Nasir’s life and Nasir HATES IT BECAUSE HE’S AN EMO BOI. 

Geena: ALTAIR IS THE SUN TO NASIR’S MOON HONESTLY. ALSOO, we got our two best boys that unfortunately didn’t make it to the end :/ Deen, aka the boy that loved Zafira enough to go on an impossible quest with her and then die for her too. He’s Yasmine’s older brother and an absolute sweetheart who wears his emotions on his sleeve when around Zafira. In a way, he was Zafira’s first boyfriend who she didn’t love romantically. Deen proposes to her and she’s like *radio silence*. I DIED AT THAT KAE…. SHE WAS LIKE “NO COMMENT” 

Kae: RADIO SILENCE LMAOO SHE WAS. She pulled a, “okay but like the arz tho…”

Geena: But yea! Deen literally dies in the first few chapters because of Altair’s shit aim…. No one ever hand him another bow and arrow again plz. So like I’m thinking Hafsah made him super sweet the first few chapters just so we would be devastated when he died like 5 chapters later or something.

We also have our wise old Safin (essentially an immortal Elf but like cooler) Benyamin, who is centuries old and a book nerd (relatable). He and Kifah join Nasir, Altair, and Zafira later on in their quest, and he seems to know a lot more than he lets one. We learn that Benyamin is the living embodiment of that one meme “Baby jordans, never worn - for sale” bc of his baby that didn’t make it :/. He wants the whole crew to be like a little family so bad that he enforces the word “zumra” aka gang on them and overall he was sly but sweet nonetheless and he too…. Kicked the can… all for the zumra :’(  

→ The Ride or Die Relationships

Geena: One thing that Hafsah Faizal writes really well is the friendships between Zafira and the small crew that knows that she’s actually the Hunter that’s been keeping them fed for years. Zafira’s absolute best friend, Yasmine, supports Zafira in all her decisions EXCEPT for the decisions where Zafira parades as a man. Deen I suppose is the same as Yasmine, except he’s less snarky. It’s canon that Zafira would lay down her life for Yasmine, and not to sound like a weirdo but Zafira was wildly jealous when Yasmine got married to Misk... like “ugh now I have to share my bestie with a man??” only explanation is that Zafira is bi confirmed. Also, where we had Zafira ready to die for Yasmine, we also have Deen ready to die for Zafira (and he does...😭). IDK how Deen was hot, smart, sweet, and everything in between and he still died. Hafsah gave us the perfect man and was like “yeea FUCK that, the only love interest will be leech-scars sad boy.” ANYWAYS, The Zafira-Yasmine-Deen triangle is a whole “I would die for you” thing, whereas Yasmine is more of a “I would kill for you” and I think that’s beautiful :’) 

Kae: Alrighty, so we also have the relationship between Altair and Nasir. They aren’t as close as Zafira, Deen, and Yasmine. At all. But they kind of have this “if it were not for the laws of this land, I would kill you” thing between them and it’s hilarious. Nasir is constantly like, “I can and will kill you, you bastard brute of a man” and Altair is like “do it bitch, I dare you” and Nasir tears up and stomps away like a brat. But as this journey continues, Nasir gets a newfound respect for Altair because he soon learns Altair isn’t a dumb brute at all and is actually pretty bright. Did we mention they’re brothers? Yeah, that’s a thing. But Nasir doesn’t learn this until the end of the story. Did Altair know the whole time? Yes. Did he swear to their mother to protect him? That as heavily implied so also yes. SO now Nasir is like, “oh noooo, I wanted to kill my brother and was also ORDERED BY MY BITCHASS DADDY TO KILL HIM” then boom goes the dynamite and Nasir finds that he can be a good boi. ANYWAYS WE LOVE ALTAIR IN THIS HOUSE. 

Geena: OKAY SINCE KAE MENTIONED IT, AND THE WHOLE ALTAIR-NASIR THING. See since I have poor reading comprehension, I didn’t realize that Altair had promised to protect Nasir. SO THIS BRINGS ABOUT THE QUESTION of the servant girl, Kulsum, that Nasir realizes is working for Altair. The same girl that appeared around the time Nasir’s mom “died”, so does that mean Altair had sent her to help console his brother 👀 Does Altair feel partly responsible for the Sultan tearing out Kulsum’s tongue?? If so… both Altair and Nasir need mad therapy 

The Bad:   

→ The Sea Monster

Kae: So, this isn’t inherently bad and we honestly have nothing bad to say about the book, let’s get that straight. But we wanted to mention it because it was eh. So we have a sea monster scene when Altair and Nasir are on their way to the island. It’s from an old folktale they’d heard growing up, that sea monsters lurked in the sea. They end up running into a sea monster and it is blind and attacking their ship. It is following them by sound so they eventually realize they need to shut the hell up. But then there is our wonderful golden buff boy, Altair. He starts singing, taunting the sea monster and Nasir is like “BOY IF U DONT-” but then his singing kills it. Apparently, the monster hates music and song? So there’s that. It as a very quick scene and I kind of wish I was longer and more dangerous. I wanted some bloodshed! Maybe a sunken ship! But it was still okay. 

Geena: Kae said everything that had to be said about that scene. And I agree, it was cool to have a monster from the author’s folklore, but at the same time, it didn’t really add much to the story other than the fact that Altair knows how to sing (whether he can sing well is a different story).

The Ugly...Crying:

→ The Lion and The Sultan

Geena: This is going to be very cliche but the ugliest thing in this book was the Sultan, our main villain, who is later revealed to be controlled by the Lion aka some ancient ifrit-safin hybrid dude that was the cause of all of Arawiya’s problems. First off, we find out near the end that the Sultan is possessed by the Lion because Nasir’s mom had a big swig of dumbass juice and gave the Sultan a pendant from the place where the Lion was imprisoned. So, following his mother’s “Death” Nasir watches the Sultan’s descent into a sort of madness and suffers under his dad’s abuse. The Lion is also Nasir’s Mom’s Ex so you can imagine what kind of shitshow that was. The Lion is also coincidentally Altair’s dad, and I’m guessing the Lion was like “fuck them kids” because he wanted Nasir to murder Altair... his only son :/ ANYWAYS, the Lion is a terrible dad 0/10 should ever have kids. 

ALSOOO THIS BITCH WAS OUT HERE CONTROLLING ZAFIRA HALF HER LIFE??? And was instrumental in her dad’s death, since he’s the embodiment of dark magic -- which makes up the Arz (evil forest) -- we learn that the Lion coaxed Zafia’s dad into entering the forest and essentially turning him mad, which lead to her mom killing him. AND IN A WAY, he can control Zafira?? Or at least get into her head.

Kae: Geena said everything perfectly. The Lion is a skank bitch and we HATE HIM. But if we hate him, that means he was written really well so HELL YEAH HAFSAH. Now to the Sultan.  The Sultan, like Geena said, is possessed by the Lion. And upon learning that in the book, I kind of felt bad for him and Nasir. Nasir remembers when his father was kind and loved him. He has watched the decline of the Sultan and this drastic change from kind to 100% evil as fuuuck. The Sultan has no control over this and Nasir just wants to please his father to get that love back from him. He sees small flashes of the man the Sultan used to be, but they are very quick and sometimes he almost misses it. The real Sultan is stomped out by the Lion whenever he peeks through. 

Geena: Like can the sultan see the shit that the lion is doing? BRO THAT WOULD BE TORTURE! Oh my god, when they finally break the spell on him there are going to be so many tears between Nasir and his dad.  

Kae: YOO WHAT IF IT’S LIKE HE CAN SEE EVERYTHING OUT OF HIS OWN EYES BUT CAN’T CONTROL IT? DUDE NOW IM EXTRAAA SAD. 

Geena: What’s sadder than all that? THE FACT THAT OUR FAVOURITE HIMBO, ALTAIR, GOT LEFT BEHIND. At the height of the action as Nasir and the surviving zumra are escaping we find out that Altair never makes it to their escape ship…. Even though it was Altair’s powers that helped them escape. And then we find out that he’s stuck in the Lion’s lair…. Thinking that no one cared to look for him… scuse me while I weep…. Hafsah didn’t have to do him like that 😭 

Kae: OKAY MOOD. YOU SAID IT PERFECTLY. And like, she wrote that part so well. Because you know how sometimes the reader knows something the characters don’t? Like, NONE OF US, THE READER OR THE CHARACTERS realized Altair was left behind until Hafsah mentioned it. It was heart-shattering. And everyone is instantly like “shit shit shit shit we fucked UP. We have to go back.” But they can’t go back. So everyone in this feels horrible. Altair feels horrible because he thinks his friends (and beautiful warrior crush) have left him behind. Nasir feels horrible because he left his brother. And the rest of the zumra because they left their friend. Also, the reader, because we see how all this shit went down. It’s just a whole roller coaster of emotions and ALTAIR IS LOVELY AND WE WANT HIM BACK. But this also leaves potential for him to switch sides and join his evil father. It’s totally a possibility and we do NOT WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO OUR FAVE. OUR HABIBI (because he calls Nasir that and Nasir, the brooding death prince hates that) HAS TO COME BACK SAFE AND UNHARMED... fin

Conclusion 

Geena: That concludes our review, we didn’t really touch on the romance and so on but it’s how you say… a slow burn? Also, we had so many thoughts about the characters because they’re all soo interesting and have their own stories that we LOVED. Hafsah did a great job at world-building and introducing her individual characters gradually, she didn’t just slap us with like six characters at once and call it a day. AND HER PLOT TWISTS??? POETIC CINEMA… As a self-proclaimed dunce, I did not see half of them coming, every single thing I thought would happen didn’t happen. For example, I thought that Benyamin was Altair’s dad at some point. Overall, this is a great Arabia inspired fantasy with engaging characters and a fast-paced plot that keeps you guessing what’ll happen next. I give it 9/10 (-1 for Altair’s suffering). 

Kae: Ngl I totally forgot about the romance. “It means nothing” GAH THE FOOL. BUT YES. I can’t believe we forgot the romance and their collar bone touching. Also the inevitable ‘omg I just caught you coming out of the bath and now I see your scars oooo’ and honestly tho mood because I wouldn’t avert my eyes either. ANYWAY, the world-building is beautifully written as were the characters. Geena is right. Everyone has their own stories and the time was taken out to tell each one. None of the characters were dumbed down and neither were their backstories. They all had their own personalities and interests and quirks. The fantasy, the magic, and the history was rich.  There was never a boring moment. I give it a 10/10 because I was super entertained and the slowburn was to die for. BUUUT. I’m still SICK that Deen was killed off five minutes into the adventure because I would’ve loved to see him giving Nasir the ~death glare~ whenever he looked at Zafira ASJDADKLJK. 

Geena: IM CRYING, YES I AGREE 100% Wish we had gotten that good ol’ Deen-Nasir beef.  

Kae: omg it would’ve been such a good beef because I feel like they would absolutely become friends at some point and HATE that they respect each other. WELP. THAT BE ALL, FOLKS. READ THIS BOOK CAUSE IT’S GOOD. 

[antiquecompass]

So this was supposed to be for Untamed Fest Day Four: Scene, but since it’s more a combo of various scenes of Jin Ling’s fight with Jin Chan and every “wait until my uncle gets here” bit, I don’t think it quite fits the fest, so I don’t want to clog up the tag. (This will happen with a few prompts just bc the whole ‘This is an AU thing’.)

Anyway, here’s a Jin Ling at Lan Academy ficlet:

Jin Ling’s path to Lan Academy hadn’t been the easiest one in terms of how long it took him to get there. He’d been homeschooled most of his life. His parents had kept him home with an entire staff of tutors for plenty of reasons–his mom’s work hours as she managed her restaurants, his dad’s travels around the world, the drama of his grandfather’s various children coming out of everywhere and trying to get to any Jin family member in order to get to the head of the family, and his family’s general mistrust of educational institutions after the one time he attended kindergarten and the school bus dropped him off at the wrong spot. (It was later revealed the bus driver was one his grandfather’s former mistresses. He’d been pulled from school and tutored at home from that point on.)

It’d been a safe childhood, with an education catered to his own interests, but it’d been a lonely one. The only friends he’d ever really had were his cousins, his cousins’ friends, and his fellow trainees in the local archery and gymnastics clubs. He’d been the happiest kid ever when his little sisters were born. Finally some other kids at the house, even if they were five years younger than him. It meant he wasn’t alone in the makeshift classroom built on their estate. 

As he grew older he found he actually enjoyed helping teach his younger siblings. His sisters were like little sponges, wanting to learn everything. And while his little brother was still too young to learn anything other than that dump trucks were cool, he was going to miss teaching him too. 

Everything changed when it came time for him to start high school. Or rather, he begged his parents to let him attend Lan Academy. His older cousin, Sizhui, was there now. One of his uncles was the Headmaster, another a teacher there, and two more of his uncles lived in the area. Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen, his only other close friends, also attended the Academy. And wouldn’t it look good on his college transcripts to attend such a prestigious school? Plus, they had a world renowned archery program, so he’d wouldn’t even fall back on his training. He’d be able to keep aiming for his Olympic dreams while also obtaining a world class education.

After months of cajoling, and probably the most detailed tour of the Lan Academy campus that had ever been given, plus a promise from his Uncle Cheng that he could live with him and Headmaster Lan, and could bring Fairy with him, he’d finally gotten his wish.

He should’ve known the adage, Be Careful What You Wish For, existed for a reason. 

No one had told him that Jin Chan was also going to be attending Lan Academy this year. 

It made for a hell of a first day.

While Uncle Xichen was kind and nice–perhaps too much of both–they’d never been that close, at least not as Jin Ling got older and spent more time pursuing sports rather than the arts. There was also, supposedly, some bad blood between Uncle Xichen and his Uncle Yao. Jin Ling had never really paid much attention to those rumors. He was far closer to his Uncle Cheng, but since Uncle Cheng had to work down in the city during the week, it’d been an awkward first day breakfast of Uncle Xichen trying to make conversation while Jin Ling barely touched his food and clung to Fairy as long as he could.

He missed his mom’s cooking. He missed his own personal archery field. He missed his dad’s warm hugs. His missed his sisters singing everything they ate before eating it and his brother building small towers with his Cheerios. He missed learning his lessons with Fairy draped over his feet.

The classes themselves hadn’t been too bad, the homework already assigned about what he’d expected. He’d been counting the hours to the lunch, when he’d finally be able to catch up with Sizhui, Jingyi, and Zizhen, but as he walked out of his math class, crossing the path between buildings to the cafeteria, he’d run into Jin fucking Chan.

Out of all the various descendants and their kids from his grandfather’s inability to keep it in his pants, Jin Chan was his least favorite. An arrogant fuckwit who had grown up jealous of Jin Ling, he’d become an even more arrogant douche canoe as a teenager.

Jin Chan was the type of asshole who lacked in any real wit, so he liked to throw his height and weight around to intimidate people. Uncle Zhan would have called him weak to his face. Uncle Cheng wouldn’t have even paid him any mind, ghosting him with the type of glare and cold shoulder he did best. Uncle Ying would’ve politely belittled him until the point  that Jin Chan would walk away in shame. 

Jin Ling wasn’t yet as intimidating as any of his uncles–one day he hoped to silence people with a single glare like all of them could. Having already skipped a year, and having a late birthday, he was far younger, and smaller, and cursed with his mother’s more petite frame, than his other classmates. He’d never been particularly embarrassed of his compact form–it did wonders for him in his archery competitions and gymnastics meets. But when it came to idiotic assholes who thought he’d back down just because he was smaller than them, he knew he had three options. One: talk shit, get hit. Two: try to take them out at the ankles. Three: run for help. 

Three might not have been the most courageous of the options, but it was only his first day, he was boarding at the friggin’ Headmaster’s house, and if he got detention his mother would drive up here, grab him by his ear, and drag him all the way back to Boston. Or Uncle Cheng would do it for her–yelling at Jin Lin the entire drive back home. Or Uncle Xichen would give him the I’m Not Mad, I’m Just Disappointed face. Jin Chan wasn’t worth all of that.

Jin Ling knew he was stubborn as hell, which he came by honestly, but he wasn’t stupid. And he had a deep sense of propriety. Both of his grandmothers had seen to that. Jin Chan thought he could provoke him into a brawl. Maybe if they were at his grandfather’s house he’d let it, but this was Lan Academy, and Jin Ling knew the rules.

As Jin Chan raised his fist to hit him, Jin Ling grinned at who he saw in the distance.

“Uncle!” he called. 

“Headmaster Lan is his uncle?” one of the boys in Jin Chan’s gang hissed. “Bro, what the fuck?”

“He’s not his real uncle,” Jin Chan said. 

“I would very much beg to differ there, Mister Jin,” Headmaster Lan said as he approached the group, his eyes not missing a single detail.

He held a brown bag in his hands that he gave to Jin Ling. “Your Uncle Cheng made a lunch for you. He was worried you’d find the food in our cafeteria not to your usual tastes. It’s one of your mother’s recipes.”

“Thank you,” Jin Ling said as he took the food.

“How has your first day been so far?” he asked, eyes cutting to the side. “Besides current events?”

“It’s gone well,” Jin Ling said. “The library is amazing.”

“It’s one of our points of pride,” Headmaster Lan agreed. He patted Jin Ling’s shoulder. “Now, go meet your cousin before he breaks poor Mister Ouyang.”

Jin Ling peered around Headmaster Lan to see Zizhen struggling to hold both Sizhui and Jingyi back. 

“Praise be to Allah,” Zizhen muttered when the other two stopped struggling. He stood up, back to his full height, and shook out his hands. “I think you two sprained something.”

“Shh,” Jingyi said, slapping a hand over his mouth. “I want to see what Headmaster does.”

Jin Ling was curious too, so he stood beside Sizhui, letting his older cousin run a soothing hand through his hair, and stood back to watch the show.

“Fighting is forbidden at Lan Academy. We have a Zero Tolerance Policy for bullying. Cliques are discouraged. It is against our Honor Code to prey on the smaller and younger. Since you clearly have forgotten our teachings here, two weeks of detention for you, Jin Chan, where you will copy all of our rules so that you will not forget them. Three weeks for your friends, so they will know to find a better leader in the future.”

Jin Ling grinned with the feeling of vindication and justice. 

Maybe Lan Academy wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

[ukulelecal]

The Lady In Waiting - Part Two

In which you’re the lady in waiting for the princess, and the mysterious, quiet prince has taken a certain interest in you.

Warnings: none i don’t think

Pairing: Royal!Calum Hood x Reader

A/N: happy fucking birthday to the loml calum t hood! so in honor of his bday this is a shorter boring filler chapter that has no calum action in it at all lmao sorry, its kinda important though, so do still read it! i’m trying to prolong this bc if i gave in to my urges they would literally be in love already so i could get to the action i have planned lol. again, i always appreciate feedback! it lets me know that you guys actually read and care about what i write! 

Series Masterlist

***

The princess, so Y/N had learned since becoming the lady in waiting about a month and a half prior, was a pretty easy royal to serve.

She was independent, never asked for much, and when she did, it was never anything too difficult. Mostly, it was helping her get ready in the mornings or fetching her things when she was too busy to get them herself. She asked for advice sometimes as well. Y/N actually enjoyed the job. The princess was right; the lady in waiting wasn’t like a servant. Assistant, would be a better term to describe it.

Y/N found herself getting closer to the princess over time. They always made small talk, whether it be about the weather or some upcoming event in Vavia, but eventually, the conversations started to get more personal. The princess started asking Y/N more questions about herself, and where she came from, and she eventually worked up the courage to ask questions back. She tended to dance around the topic of her family, never liking to bring up her parents, but she had no problem talking about Aunt Mary - who she had been consistently exchanging letters with, and was pleased to know that there was a designated doctor from the palace taking care of her. They could chat like they had known each other for years.

Y/N didn’t dare say it out loud, to anyone, but she felt like they were becoming friends.

The king and queen, Y/N never saw much of. They were understandably busy, and they had other people who attended them. She only ever saw them in passing, which including Y/N curtsying to them, and then they continued walking after giving a brief nod of recognition. She didn’t mind that she never spoke to them. They were intimidating, and she still felt awkward after the king’s snide comment at dinner.

Then, there was the prince.

She saw him more than she saw the king and queen, but not as much as she saw the princess. Him and his sister worked together a lot when there was business to be taken care of, so she mostly saw him then. He always offered her a small smile, but never said anything. One thing she did notice, was that he always kept his gaze on her for a little longer than necessary, looking like he was thinking. She wasn’t sure what it meant, if anything, and she wasn’t sure how he felt about her, considering what he had said to her on her first day. Was he just being friendly? Did he actually care? It made Y/N’s head hurt, thinking about it at night. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be socializing with the family when she was working, and felt she couldn’t start up the conversation. She also knew the prince was shy.

She wished he would just talk to her.

One morning, just as Y/N was on her way to have breakfast with the other staff, she heard her name being called. Looking around for the source of the voice, she found one of the guards approaching her. She had come to know him; he had asked her to call him Michael, even though nearly everyone else always called him Clifford, his last name. He had said he sometimes forgot he even had a first name.

Him and Y/N talked, when they had their meals together or when their breaks coincided with each other. He was nice, always made her laugh, and even though he was a guard at the royal palace that always kept a blank face on duty, he was a fun guy when she talked to him. He was a good friend, and kept her grounded amongst all the chaos of working for royalty.

“Hey, Michael,” she greeted, grinning. “Headed to breakfast?”

“No, Sargeant wanted me to start early today, so I ate already,” he explained. “Got an order that the princess wants to take breakfast in her room this morning. Said she asked for you to bring it to her.”

Y/N nodded in response.

“Alright, I’ll get on it. Is it in the kitchen?”

“Yep, should be done by now.” He looked around, his training preventing him from keeping his gaze in one place too long. He then turned back to her, shooting her a smile. “I should head back to my post. I’ll see you for dinner, Y/N.”

“See you then.”

The two parted ways, and Y/N changed directions to head towards the kitchen. She had only been there once before, when the princess requested dinner in her room because she wasn’t feeling well, and she hoped she could remember the way there. The palace was massive, and Y/N was still getting her bearings.

As she walked, she questioned to herself exactly why the princess wanted breakfast in her room. She always ate with her family, aside from the one time she was sick. Maybe she was sick again? She had been working very hard lately, so it would make sense that it was starting to take a toll on her.

Y/N got to the kitchen, pushing the doors open and stepping inside. It was warm in there, just like last time, and it smelled delightful.

“Good morning, Lady Y/N,” the chef, who’s name she had yet to learn, greeted.

“Good morning,” she responded politely. “I’ve come to fetch breakfast for the princess?”

He nodded, turning around and grabbing a tray, one with little legs so the princess could have it in bed, off the counter behind him. He handed it over, and Y/N’s eyebrows furrowed as she glanced down at it.

There were two plates prepared. Two sets of silverware, two of everything. Wasn’t it just for the princess?

“Two meals?” She asked curiously, looking up at the chef in confusion. He shrugged, throwing his hands up.

“Don’t ask me,” he sighed. “She requested for two to be made. Didn’t say why.”

The chef turned around again and got back to work, and Y/N slipped out of the kitchen, using her back to push open the door.

She considered the reasons as to why the princess ordered two breakfasts as she made her way to her room, carefully balancing the tray. She doubted she would be so hungry as to order two entire meals, and the only other thing she could think of was that there was someone else there with her. A lover, maybe? Of course, it was none of Y/N’s business, but she wasn’t prepared to handle the awkwardness of walking in on the princess and a stranger.

Once she got to the princess’ room, she managed to knock without dropping the tray. There was some shuffling from inside, then the door opened, revealing the princess still in her nightgown.

“Your Highness,” Y/N greeted, slowly curtsying as to not drop the food.

“Oh, enough with the formalities, Lady Y/N,” she said, stepping aside to let the lady in waiting in. “Please, just call me Mali.”

“Are you sure?” She asked, raising her eyebrows. She never considered calling her anything other than her title. She took a quick glance around the room as she stepped in, not finding anyone else.

Who was the other meal for?

“Yes,” the princess chuckled. “Mali is fine.”

“Alright...Mali,” Y/N responded, the name almost feeling strange on her lips. “You don’t have to call me Lady anymore, then. Just Y/N.”

“If you insist, Y/N,” she teased, sitting cross legged on her bed. She patted the space in front of her, smiling. “Sit. I want to have breakfast with you.”

Y/N stopped in her tracks, staring at Mali incredulously.

“With me?” She queried, voice raised an octave. Mali had never gone so far as to invite her to do something together, privately. It was probably unprofessional, for a princess and her lady in waiting to be casually eating together, but she didn’t seem to care.

“Of course,” she giggled. She patted the space again. “Please, sit.”

Slowly, Y/N balanced the tray on its legs on the bed, and sat down across from Mali. She was stiff, antsy about the situation. She assumed it was a good thing that the princess wanted to eat with her, alone, but it had to go well. Not like the dinner with the family.

“Thank you, Your H-...Mali,” Y/N corrected herself, folding her hands tightly in her lap.

The girl laughed, picking up her silverware and gesturing to the other set.

“Let’s eat,” she announced. She waited until Y/N picked up her fork and knife until she spoke again. “So, how have you been? You’ve adjusted well, yes?”

“I have. Still trying to find my way around,” she responded, both girls laughing.

“I get that. It doesn’t seem so big once you get used to it.”

Y/N took a bite of her eggs, almost humming in pleasure. The food the staff got served was very good, but it wasn’t quite made to the level that the food for the royal family was made at.

“How’s your aunt?”

Y/N shrugged, swallowing down her food before answering.

“Alright, I guess. The doctor said she’s not really getting any better, but at least she’s not getting worse.”

Mali sighed, reaching over to pat the girl on the shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I promise our doctor is giving her the best care possible.”

“I know.”

It was silent for a moment, Y/N fearing she ruined it already by making the conversation sad, but Mali thankfully broke the awkward silence.

“Just out of curiosity...have you talked to my brother at all?”

Y/N froze for a moment. The thought of the prince was confusing, and the fact that Mali was wondering about them made it worse.

“Well, for a few moments after dinner the day I arrived, we spoke,” Y/N explained softly, omitting what the conversation was about.

“What is it about what my father said?” She asked, lowering her voice slightly. “Because he was pretty upset about that.”

Y/N nodded, movements slow. She wasn’t sure why the conversation was making her feel so odd; she only talked to him once. It wasn’t like they had anything going on.

“He, uh...he asked me to tell him if he said anything else like that to me,” Y/N stammered, subconsciously wiping her hands on her napkin.

Mali grinned slyly, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment before letting it slip back out.

“Really? My father has a tendency to say some...rude things to people, and Calum always gets mad about it, but I don’t think he’s ever been that concerned over it,” she replied, still grinning.

“So what does that mean?” Y/N questioned, her own voice lowering. Mali shrugged, taking a bite of her food and swallowing.

“Don’t know. But, I’ve noticed he stares at you a lot. And he asks me about you. He might like you a little.”

The princess’ words made her heart pound in her chest. The prince, like a girl like her? She always imagined she would only ever be with someone of her own class, as that’s what was customary in Vavia. The prince was miles above her.

“That’s impossible,” she breathed. “We hardly even know each other.”

“Get to know him, then,” Mali suggested, her words delicate.

“I can’t just strike up a conversation with him. I mean, isn’t that...improper? Wouldn’t I get in trouble?”

“You won’t get in trouble, I’ll make sure of it,” Mali said with a serious tone. “And forget what anyone might say about it being improper. You’re both people. You can talk to him.”

-

taglist (send me an ask to be added!):

@cosmixcalum @cold-coffee-clifford @depressed-teapot @sick-orca @singt0mecalum @cashtonsicetea @stylessilhouette @bbyboyycal @thepixiedreambitch @emotionalhue @xxsometimestheywinxx @bluevxnus @calssunflower @stupid-gracie @cxddlyash @singledadharrington @rotten-kandy @cthoodsthetic @youngblood199456

[artificialqueens]

perfect places (craquaria): chapter three - melody

A/N: Soooo, here is when I apologize (again) for taking so long for update. I had to write two fics for my gf and one of my most special friends and I had zero inspiration. And this chapter might be a little like a filler chapter, but I swear I tried to make it up at least writing something sorta long. My writing tumblr is @ uranustrash now (promo as always bc well, choices). Feel free to follow or send hcs, or opinions, everything!! And you can check the other stuff I write too, if you want <3 xoxo

Experience on kissing was something Aquaria was sure she had. She kissed a lot of girls over the years, in all the ways possible. But, that kiss? Was one of the best kisses of her life, if it wasn’t the best. It tasted like wine - Strawberry Hills for sure -, and lust. Brianna’s touch was heavenly, as the sounds she made her do while they kissed. Even if it was a drunk kiss, it seemed right for Aquaria.

She didn’t know how they got there, all she could feel was the moment. All she could feel was Brianna’s soft lips on her, wanting more and more. Kissing her rough in a way she would never have premeditated. In Aquaria’s head, Brianna wasn’t the rough type. She imagined making out with her to be soft and tender. But, that drunk version of her was bringing up a side Aqua never knew.

Well, Brianna wasn’t playing when Aquaria felt her teeth biting her bottom lip. Everything was so intense, as she was the ocean and Aquaria drowned on her, drowned on the passion of that kiss. Between moans and whines, Brianna smiled sadistically.

Not even Aquaria knew she would be so submissive - she was usually a power bottom, even on making out. Brianna lied her down on her bed with the gentle touch of a feather and started to kiss her neck. Every kiss was heavy breathing coming from Aquaria, every bite, every teasing… It was Aquaria’s end when she decided to gift her with hickeys.

‘’Bri…’’ She whined again ‘’please…’’

‘’Shhh… I know angel, be patient’’

Even her tone was different, Aquaria couldn’t help herself when she was so desperate. She knew Bri would be bossy every time she used to tell her off, but she didn’t know she would be that dominant. That made her want her even more. Aquaria was on her lap now, Brianna’s hands under her short dark blue skirt.

Brianna could make her whine and grind against her easy. She had all the power kissing her harder and harder. Sipping her tongue on her throat with a burning desire, she kissed her even harder now.

‘’I-I think we are going too far…’’ Aquaria finally said after a lot of tries of saying a coherent sentence.

‘’Look who’s worried about the rules now, you never seem to care about the princess. You’re such a bad girl, I need to teach you a lesson so you can be my good girl’’

Did she call Aquaria Needles princess? And told her she would… Teach her a lesson? Yes, she did, and Aquaria squeezed her thighs together with every single letter of her words.

‘’You like it so much, don’t you?’’ Brianna provoked rubbing her fingers on Aquaria’s pale thighs ‘’…so much that you can’t wake up’’

It was like she was with her head above the water. At the moment she opened her eyes and realized it was a dream. She lost all the air in her lungs and had to return to the surface. Facing the wall as she drowned - drowned in her own lusty dirty thoughts - until she realized she wasn’t in her dorm. She let out a gasp when she saw Brianna sleeping peacefully in the floor.

A part of her wanted to think the fact Bri was sleeping on the floor because of her was adorable. Another part of her wanted to punch herself because of it - and because of her dream. The last sane part of Aquaria wanted to know how did she end up there?

The last thing she remembered was to have what would be her final drink - after a lot of very alcoholic drinks. She had some flashes of waking up in the middle of the night, in the dark and see a sleepy Brianna in the floor. But she thought that was a dream, and that the dream she had with her was true.

It wasn’t like she could wait for Brianna for wake up, and talk to her. She needed to leave, quick. In her dreams they would be waking up together, she would call Brianna to bed and they would cuddle. Aquaria Needles wanted to cuddle, that was the effect she had on her. But it was like Aquaria’s casual fucks: she had to leave the soon as she could in every morning. Except she was sure that they didn’t anything wild.

Brianna’s side of the room was exactly her. Tons of wall shelves filled with books, from study books to… Wait, was that Harry Potter? Of course, Cracker would be the kind of girl who read Harry Potter. And biographies, lots of them. Aquaria heard somewhere that Brianna had an obsession with last words.

Bri as a child should be so cute. On socks and cute print pajamas, tiny glasses on her angelic face. Reading biographies while her messy blonde hair fell all over her face. Something about that made Aquaria almost let out an “aww”. She started to think of herself as a child. Then, she decided tiny Aquaria and tiny Bri would never be friends anyways.

Because Aquaria wasn’t the social person she was nowadays. She used to stay home all day watching cartoons and eating cookies made by Alaska. While Sharon was in the bar drinking their money. Her moms were far from perfect when she was growing up. They were always splitting and going back together, fighting and yelling really loud. But never ever letting Aquaria know - but she found out anyway.

After a long time, they regret everything and fixed all the scars they left in each other, and in their daughter. So Aquaria’s completely dysfunctional family could be happy one time in their life. But, Aquaria did had to fuck up becoming a troublemaker. Her childhood wasn’t like Brianna’s - happy, with a loving mother supporting her to become a success. She only had a happy life after bad times passed. That didn’t last when her parents got monthly warns of the academy that she was very close to get expelled.

They never would have been friends, not with the perfect girl with a tender mom who buys her biographies. Aquaria always isolated herself from other children. Even if Brianna - the always sweet and sociable Brianna - decided to talk to her, she would cut her off.

Even sleeping, Brianna seemed tired. Aquaria felt like a hundred knives were stabbing her chest for remembering things. A loud and drunk version of her hitting on Bri. Aquaria’s face was burning with shame, she couldn’t believe. But, there was more to care about…

Damn Brianna Cracker was at her party, her secret party. Now she started to think it was all her fault. If she didn’t flirt with Brianna, she wouldn’t have to look for Aquaria in her dorm that turned into a salvage party. She didn’t think she would show up, Brianna didn’t give a fuck about her since ever. And to make everything worse Aquaria made her stay.

Now she was walking in pajamas in the school hallways - so fast that you could call that running. It was around five am, and Aquaria’s body was cursing her during the whole path. The sun was rising so Aquaria could see the sky turning from dark to a pastel blue sky full of shades of orange and pink. She thought to stop to watch that - but she gave up when she remembered she had to save her friends lives - the sun could wait.

The birds were chirping so loud, it made Aquaria curse in agony again. She was so tired that she didn’t even realize a worried Aja in the door of their dorm. Luckily, the staff never cared a lot about the students at that time - why would somebody be up at five am? activities only started at seven am, which meant she could have more two hours of heavenly sleep. Her friends would be so mad at her, they would be planning how to make her life hell.

Well, she was wrong because Aja ran into her almost suffocating her with their tight hug. Based on how tired she was, Aquaria only could let out a groan because her whole body hurt in awful pain. But a hug was nice in that time, she sighed and hugged them back. Sometimes, she thought Aja was the only one she could count on.

‘’Sis, you almost killed me of preoccupation, you were so drunk last night, we lost you…’’

‘’Hey I’m fine now, not dead, only inside’’ Aquaria winked

‘’Bitch, never do it again. We can’t live without our baby! We have to cut off your drinks’’ they placed a lock of her messy black hair under her ear

A moment of silence. Aja knew what was happening. The president of the student council was at their secret party, how wouldn’t they know?

‘’I’m so sorry Aja… It’s all my fault I-’’

‘’No.’’ they stamped their feet ‘’how would that be your fault Aqua? You were drunk’’

‘’Yes, but if I hadn’t flirted with her in our French lesson she wouldn’t have to look for me… I thought she wouldn’t even show up’’

‘’Did you invite her?’’

‘’Well she invited herself, I tried to say I had something… So, no but-’’

‘’Then, isn’t your fault Aqua! You have to stop being sorry for everything, and it’s very understandable. I have to advert that everyone is kinda mad at you… She’s your crush and they think she’s your responsibility’’ they pondered “I’ll defend you if you need, I do believe in love. They hated Farrah when we started seeing each other too”

Without thinking twice, she hugged them. They got surprised, but hugged her back and sighed petting her hair.

‘’You’re like a younger sister to me, take more care of yourself okay? Drink, but don’t drink like that’’

‘’But how are you? Express your anger’’

Aja cursed and kicked a trash can, making some noise - but nothing that could wake up somebody. She could see they expressed their anger for real.

‘’I can’t get expelled Aqua… Can’t let my mom down, I wish we could, you know, hurt Brianna. Physically, I’m sorry, but I’m very angry at her'’

Aquaria’s chest hurt with the thought of Brianna getting hurt. It hurt even more with the thought of Aja getting expelled.

‘’…But you know I won’t’’

‘’I care about you too Aja, if you’re expelled I’ll never forgive myself’’

‘’Sis, isn’t your damn fault if you blame yourself one more time… I worry about my mom you know?’’

Aja’s mom was a very sweet person by what Aqua knew. She liked poetry, and flowers - smelled like flowers also. She treated Aja like the most special flower in the world. They always talked about her. About how their alcoholic dad used to be toxic to them both, and how she built a new life in a small trailer with them.

Years later, when they got a scholarship in one of the best schools in the country, she couldn’t be more proud of her child. She was the only thing they cared about - besides Farrah, of course… hearing that from Aja made Aquaria lose her mind.

She was feeling guilty, her stupid crush messed her best friend’s life. She would never forgive herself even if Aja yelled at her that it wasn’t her fault. The only thing sleepy and sad Aqua did was open her arms to them one more time, and let them cry on her chest.

‘’Sorry this was way too emotional…’’ they cried in broken sentences ‘’Fuck! My dad already disappointed my mom, I can’t disappoint her too, I’m a fucking failure. When I came out she was the only person who accepted me… She was the only person who ever cared about me besides you and Farrah. I just… I wanna give her a better life’’

‘’Listen, she will always be proud of you. I’m sure she wouldn’t care. She loves you’’ now was Aquaria’s time to pet Aja’s mint green hair;

‘’B-but I still would be a failure…’’

‘’You’re not a failure, I promise we will solve it. Should we go to our room now? I can hold your hand while we watch mean girls, like the old times’’

One funny thing about Aja, they were all badass and strong, but their favorite movie was Mean Girls. So when they first meet, they used to watch Mean Girls together all the time when school was too scary.

‘’You forgot our room turned into a party. Some people are trying to clean it, as usual, they’re almost done I have pity on their souls’’

‘’Don’t forget next time it can be us…’’

‘’If there is a next time’’ Aja sighed, still sad ‘’I was helping them… The worrying about losing my scholarship and my best friend were scaring me the fucking out’’

‘’So where are our people?’’

‘’They’re at the barn, but Farrah is in her dorm, I slept there, she offered me comfort and cuddles’’

‘’Farrah Moan seems like the kind of girl who cuddles’’

‘’She does, and her cuddles are fucking amazing. You need a cuddle, everyone needs a cuddle’’

‘’Aja what did you became?’’

‘’A big softie, we hugged three times this morning, Aquaria. I’m in a fragile state I have the right to’’

The barn was at Charles Academy proprietary, but it got forgotten and never used as a barn properly. The administration seemed to forget it existed, so that worked as a kind of deposit.

Even Bob the Eagle didn’t look there in her stakeouts, it was the perfect place. Aquaria and her friends used that as a kind of headquarter. It was all blue - different from the other barns, it was blue because CA brand color was a royal blue.

The smell of fresh paint was still there, but not as strong as the smell of alcohol when she got in. For Aquaria’s surprise, no one was sleeping. She had to handle the hugs and the ‘’I’m glad you’re safe’’ kind of thing. She wasn’t complaining, it was nice to be home.

Home meant they would mock the cute pastel pink pajamas she was wearing - that matched her so well. Home meant the alcohol smell, alcohol that consumed a lot. Home meant her friend’s warm hugs, and care. She had her moms, but her friends were like a second family for her.

‘’I hate to be a bitch, but we have to solve our little issue’’ Laila muttered

‘’I know… ‘’ addressed a very sleepy Jinkx. She woke up recently by her voice ‘’fucking student council president was there, we’re fucked! How did that happen anyways?“

Aquaria felt herself getting smaller with that comment.

While they discussed how bad the situation was, Aquaria put both of her hands on her head to think. Until she remembered some flashes of last night. Brianna dancing, she remembered of watching her untie her hair, and that was so damn sexy…

‘’Guys, We have a thing against miss perfect’’

‘’Aka her fucking crush y’all’’ Laila groaned. ‘’Aqua, I love you. But why couldn’t you keep fucking trustable people? She wouldn’t be there if you two didn’t have any connection like, why would she go to your dorm’’

‘’You could keep fucking people who like you’’ Raja addressed ‘’sorry, any girl would die to have you. Not Brianna fucking Cracker, why do you like her?’’

‘’I…’’ she tried to explain herself, but Aja put a hand on her shoulder as the protective friend they were:

‘’The nerd can be an asshole, but she’s kinda cute. Aquaria has a questionable taste, but it’s all chill since it doesn’t fuck us all so, get easy on her? Isn’t her fault guys, do you think she could betray us in that way? She has a brain, dammit. She didn’t know they would be there’’

They were sort of lying, but since Aquaria doubted she would be there, that was kinda true. She decided to keep her mouth shut and let Aja lead the situation.

‘’…Probably somebody recorded her dancing at the party?’’

‘’I did!’’

‘’Well Raven, we should tell her we will post it. It shows she was at a secret party…’’ Aquaria addressed ‘’she wouldn’t snitch us if she also got snitched”

‘’Wow, calm down baby Aqua’’ Pearl mocked ‘’she’s a savage. Blackmailing?’’ and Aquaria conclude she got high in that time of the morning. None of them did weed that much, but Pearl? She always did weed.

‘’I bet my ass that she’s planning how to snitch us all right now! I’m sorry for the folks who are cleaning, they aren’t safe as we are right now’’ Adore got up from the floor.

‘’She’s sleeping…’’

‘’How do you know that? Oh my god Aquaria, did you slept with her? Great, you saw the enemy at the party and what now? Instead of trying to take her to us so we could solve it, you decided to fucking have sex with her?’’

Aquaria’s cheeks immediately turned red with Adore’s question: ‘’I didn’t, okay? I was very drunk but I’m sure I didn’t. I remember that she saw my state, and took me to her dorm, she took care of me. Believe on me, I couldn’t say one coherent sentence’’

‘’She’s not wrong… I talked to her and she started to tell me why I should tap my webcam because FBI is watching us. Then she started to compare that with a bunch of senseless metaphors, Aqua is a clumsy drunk.’’

Katya and her Russian accent saved her ass.

Everyone laughed, and they seemed to get easy on her now. Then, they all got silent, until Aja clapped their hands: ‘’Who’s going to talk to the nerdy barbie?’’

‘’Aquaria! Is that even a question? She seems to have a lot of… Intimacy, with her’’

Not them all were getting easy on her. Adore was still looking at her as she would murder somebody.

‘’I told you, I didn’t sleep with her okay?’’

For one moment Aquaria felt sad that wasn’t a lie.

‘’…I talk to her anyway, it’s my responsibility, and I care too much about you guys’’

‘’We love you’’ Pearl got up to hug her, she had alcohol breath too ‘’don’t we?’’

‘’We do, I’m sorry for being a bitch with you’’

‘’Me too’’ Laila held her girlfriend’s hand

They sneakily went back to their dorms. They were clean now, thanks to the assigned cleaners. They were like assigned drivers but assigned to clean the mess of the parties.

Aja and Aquaria pretended they got up exactly in that time. They showered, smoked their morning cigarette watching people in the bathroom window. Aja always wore a leather jacket as a blazer, their style was very solid. Aquaria this time decided to only wear her tight uniform shirt and her shorted skirt. A black choker was the cherry on top of the cake, she looked heavenly.

‘’I guess blackmailing the nerd will be a little bit more fun for you than I expected…’’

‘’Shut up, I always dress like this’’

‘’Fair enough, the bitch stares at you all the time. You could cut the sexual tension between you two with a knife’’

‘’I wish’’ she bit her lip.

Everything seemed normal, they went to have breakfast and attended class. No one called their attention, that was good. Aquaria was doing fine, then she didn’t saw Brianna in the student council table, she almost passed out. She would be fine, for sure, or snitching them to her own mother right now.

Didn’t saw Brianna on a class either. Her first class was French, her heart was pounding so fast that she was sure the other classroom could hear it too. Maybe Brianna heard that and showed a damn sign of life. She was impatient, she wanted to see her, and not only because she could be fucking her life right now. She needed to see her, at least one more time.

And that time happened when a messy Brianna got into the class, late. Brianna Cracker was late. Brianna president of the student council Cracker. Brianna miss perfect Cracker… She couldn’t believe on it, Aquaria’s chin was on the floor.

Madam Visage looked at her with a worried look, Brianna never used to get late. Not even one single time, not even when she was sick. Brianna mumbled an inaudible ‘’sorry’’ and took her seat. Even their teacher couldn’t continue with the class, everyone was talking about her. If Aquaria got late, it would be only another normal day, but Brianna? That was like a natural disaster.

Sometimes, she used to pay attention to her in class. She was so angelic.. The way she always tied her hair in a bun, or bite her pencil a little bit when she was nervous made her so human to Aquaria. It was a Brianna that could never get seen by anyone, but Aquaria realized her. She had a worried look like the ceiling was going to fall on her head. Aquaria really wanted to hold her hand.

But no, her friends needed her too. She wouldn’t do that to Aja, friends first then lovers and crushes. So when the class ended, Aquaria waited for everyone to leave. She knew Brianna used to always stay to finish taking notes even when the teacher left. She closed the door of the class and walked to Brianna slowly and carefully in her heeled boots.

‘’Well, well, well’’

For a change, Brianna gulped and got red. Aquaria always loved the effect she had over her.

‘’Aquaria…’’

‘’Listen, I am thankful for whatever you did, and for taking care of me.’’ she sighed ‘’I am thankful, you’re. Sweet, I appreciate that. But when it comes to my friends I need to be rational.’’

‘’W-what do you mean?’’

‘’I mean that you can’t snitch us, you can’t do that’’

‘’I wasn’t going to snitch you… Aquaria, you’re… I…’’ she sighed ‘’ You have a bright future in this institution. But your friends in another hand are…“

‘’Well, if they go down, we both are going down with them’’

She played the video of Brianna dancing on her phone, and she had to admit she was sexy. Brianna looked at the video, scared, as she had seen a ghost. She was feeling bad for Brianna, but she couldn’t let Aja and her other friends down.

‘’Aquaria are you blackmailing me?’’

‘’If you tell anyone about the party, I’ll send this to your beloved mom, and to the student council… You don’t want that Bri, do you?’’

And she left Brianna there, along with that to process. She couldn’t feel remorse or regret, but somehow she cried when she arrived at her dorm. Thinking about the monster she became, and how easy would be everyone’s life if she never were alive. Her moms lives, Aja’s life, Brianna’s life, her friend’s lives… She wouldn’t have to hurt anyone or pick sides. She was a liability.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16076132/chapters/41527103

[incorrect4minute]

bad girl: jeon jiyoon au

(semi proofread) this au is heLLA long lmao prepare yourself 

but also let me know what you thought of this, i never usually write bullet poit style

request if you’d like to see more au’s like this! - admin muzik

jeon “jenyer” jiyoon was bad news

one of those girls who were “badass to the bone”

she sometimes came to school on a motorcycle

and wore a leather jacket with her gang’s logo on the back

the gang was called ‘4Minute’

this was due to the fact that they could literally beat you up or ruin your life in 4Minutes

or so the rumours said

they weren’t bullies or drug addicts etc

they just liked having the five of them in the group, no one else

this is why people started leaving them alone and making up rumours about them and why they’re so cold and daunting   

this is also why the girls started acting colder towards other students, talking back to teachers etc etc

jiyoon was the most intimidating of the five

she was also the loudest

yelling profanities at other students who looked at her the wrong way in the hallway

she was suspended for 2 weeks when she came to school with green hair

however comma

after those two weeks, her hair was still green

she was sent out of every class

labelled as a ‘disgrace’

she argued that it was a ‘fashion statement’ ‘students should be able to express themselves’

the teachers would have none of it

most students thought she was ‘crazy’ (wink wonk)

like some kind of harley quinn wannabe

she had this aggressive gaze

it was almost like Medusa’s gaze

hence why most students looked away whenever she or 4Minute strutted through the halls

however comma

while most people looked away from jiyoon 

your gaze followed her

what?

even though she kinda scared you

she was exceptionally beautiful

you didn’t necessarily have a crush on her

you knew she was a bad influence

everyone and their grandma knew she was bad news

but somehow that made her more intriguing??

she had never acknowledged you

however (comma)

she once fought with your best friend

jiyoon skipped her in the lunch line

your best friend didn’t know how or when to keep her mouth shut

so

she called jiyoon out for it

jiyoon attempted to start a fight with her

but she caught your eye 

you were terrified of jiyoon could do (you heard a lot of rumours about her)

(plus you didn’t really want to get involved and break up a fight)

and walked off before a teacher could give her detention anOTHER ONE

(but we all know your best friend would’ve lost lmaooo)

no one

and i mean no one

crosses jeon jiyoon

and gets away with it

you never had much of a problem with jiyoon, in fairness, you didn’t know much about her

all you really knew was she lived in the house across from you and was hella “badass”

you were a quiet student

you kinda just blended into the background

you tolerated her loudness in the canteen and in the halls

like most students when she walked through the halls

you turned away or hid your face in a book

yet

the one place you didn’t tolerate her loudness was in class

you actually liked learning

the class you performed best in was english

on the flip side

this was jiyoon’s worst class

she hated the teacher

(but it was really because she struggled with english, but didn’t want to seem helpless or stupid)

so one day in english

the teacher decided to ask jiyoon to recite a bit from the textbook

in front of the whole class

for the first time - jeon jiyoon was nervous

she stood up and began to read

she stumbled and stuttered

mispronounced and missed out words she didn’t know

some people began giggling and muttering under their breath

jiyoon’s ear’s had gone red

once she’d finished she quickly sat down and tried to act cool about embarrassing herself in front of the whole class

the teacher sighed

“jiyoon, we’ve been reading the book for weeks, we’ve gone over the pronunciation of these words. have you even been practising?”

she looked scared for a split second before returning to cool jiyoon™

“whatever,” she said as she rolled her eyes

the teacher sighed again

“fine, let’s now see someone i know will have been practising, y/n, please read that same paragraph for the class”

like most human beings

you hated reading for the class

but

english was your best subject

so you tried to act more confident

you stood up and began to read

sure you stuttered on a few words but you did a very good job

your teacher gave you a proud smile

before they could talk about your reading

your teacher was asked to go see the headteacher by another member of staff who knocked on the classroom door as you were finishing

once they’d left, the class were all talking

you, unfortunately, didn’t sit near any of your friends

but you did sit across from jeon jiyoon

she sat beside hyuna (another member of 4Minute)

jiyoon must’ve been a bit annoyed at the fact you did wayyy better than her in speaking

so much so

she was doing an impression of you to hyuna and those around her

“i’m y/n! i’m sooooo good at english! blah blah blah!” she mimicked in a high pitched voice 

(nothing like yours but nice try sis)

you tried your best to ignore it

the chatter in the class was starting to die down

as they all began listening to jiyoon

this, obviously, made things very uncomfortable for you as everyone in the class started turning around to look at you

she paused to laugh about it with hyuna

at this point, you weren’t necessarily upset

you were kinda pissed off

(who wouldn’t be?)

so

you turned to face jiyoon’s general direction

“you know jiyoon, if you actually practised and tried in this class instead of picking fights in the lunch line and dying your hair shitty shades of green, you might be able to be as good as me”

oooffftttt

bitch

you snapped!

the class went dead silent

jiyoon deadass just stared at you

if looks could kill lmaoooo

thankfully, your teacher came back into class just in time

(you were afraid jiyoon was about to literally murder you)

your teacher was a tad bit concerned with the fact jiyoon was staring at you with just a dash of rage in her eyes

but it was last period on a friday

they could care less lol

they continued the lesson but the bell rang, dismissing you for the day

you quickly gathered your stuff before skrrt skrrting out of class

you met your friends outside

they were pretty impressed with your comment to jiyoon

(you were impressed with yourself too)

you said goodbye to them at the school gates and walked along the street to your part-time job

this was at a restaurant

it high key sucked at it was straight after school on a friday but the place was pretty understaffed and you never really had any plans for a friday as your friends were studious or busy with family etc

you arrived at work, got changed into the uniform and got round to waiting tables

the hours flew by

probably bc you didn’t even have time to stop and check the time

before you knew it, it was time to wipe down the tables and close

you collected your things, said goodbye to the owner and began to walk home

it was now nighttime but the city was still buzzing with people in nightclubs etc

walking home at night never bothered you

there was fear in the back of your mind about getting jumped

(so you had a wee bottle of pepper spray in your bag just in case)

but you’d been working at the restaurant for a couple months and nothing had happened

you passed a bar with some men smoking and drinking outside it

they called on you

but you kept walking

they kept calling you

you kept walking

two of them began to follow you

you quickened your pace, you were nearly home

one of them caught up to you and started yelling at you (all creepy like)

you suddenly felt frozen with fear

that was until a hand came out of nowhere, grabbed yours, and began dragging you away

you stumbled a bit, trying to gain balance

and figure out what the fuck was going on

you saw the men being punched in the face by two tall figures

they were then pepper-sprayed by two others 

you couldn’t see who they were

nor who was pulling you

the person was still running, as were you

you saw you were at your street but they kept going

“hey can you like stop now, my house is coming up!” you yelled at the person

they began to slow down back to a walking pace

but

they didn’t let go of your hand (!!!!)

your street was dark (bc most of the streetlights didn’t work and no one had bothered to come to fix them lol)

however comma

you could make out the writing on the back of the person’s jacket

‘4Minute 4Ever’

it took you a split second to realise who this was and what just happened

“jiyoon?”

they stopped outside your house

‘twas jeon jiyoon (and 4Minute) who saved you

“are you okay?” she asked, fully concerned and slightly out of breath

“y-yeah i’m fine....i think?” you replied, slightly dumbstruck

“what do you mean you think? did they get their filthy paws on you, if they did i swear-”

“n-no, there’s just a lot to process just now...”

“oh....yeah, must be, uhhh, is there anything i can do?”

“would you mind staying with me, at least until my parents get back, i-i kinda don’t want to be alone...butonlyifthatsokaywithyou!” you rushed to say, still a tad dazed 

she gave you a small smile “sure,” she giggled, “i’ll protect you.”

you let yourself into your house and led jiyoon up to your room

“can i get you anything? drink? snack?” you asked, now remembering she was about to murder you only hours ago

“i should be asking you that!” she replied, you both kinda laughed but then remembered how much worse that situation could’ve been if she wasn’t there

you both sat on your bed in a somewhat awkward silence

“i thought you hated me, especially after last period, i’m sorry, i shouldn’t have spoken to you like that, i just-” you said, breaking the silence

“i deserved it, i was a COMPLETE asshole,” she sighed, staring at her hands

“i’m so shit at english, i am at most subjects, i just hide it to keep my ‘badass’ image, i wish i could understand it like you.”

she sighed again

you just sat there shook shocked

“why me? there are other who do way better than me in class...?”

“do i really have to say it?” she smiled at you, but then looked down at your carpet “i um, i did try in school for a while, to impress someone, but they never really noticed, and once 4Minute became a thing i just trying i guess.”

“who were you trying to impress? a teacher, parents?” you asked

“i, uh, it’s silly,” she let out a shaky laugh

“it’s fine if you don-”

“i like you y/n”

“-n’t have, what? why? since when? why??”

“i like you, you seem cool, you’re smart and you’re literally the most attractive human being alive. and uh since when? i was gonna beat up your friend in the lunch line but i saw you behind her, looking scared, and i don’t know, i didn’t want you to be scared of me. i wanted you to like me the way i liked you.”

you were speechless, “but you looked so angry when i called you out in class.”

“i let everything get the better of me, i wasn’t angry at you, i was angrier at myself for not practising, for messing up. hyuna is the only in 4Minute who knows i like you, she stopped me from continuing that shit impression, i’m glad she did, but i’m still sorry i did it.” jiyoon looked at you

“y/n, i am so sorry for ever scaring you or making you feel uncomfortable.”

“it’s okay-”

“y/n, it’s not okay, i feel awful,”

“ji-”

“i just wish i could make things better!”

that’s when you leaned forward and kissed her

you were literally kissing the most intimidating member of 4Minute, in the midst of her confessing to YOU!!

you pulled away first “that made everything better”

she smiled (and blushed a little!!)

“jiyoon, it’s okay. just let me help, i’ll practice with you.”

she smiled “i’d like that. and also, just to clarify, does this mean you like me too?” 

“it does.” you smiled back and you both leaned back in for another kiss

“Y/N WE’RE HOME!” your mum called and the front door slammed shut making both of you jump and break the kiss too soon (for both your likings)

shit

you and jiyoon looked at each other 

you knew your parents wouldn’t be totally chill with having jeon jiyoon in their house

“you could try the front door if you naruto run past them” you suggested

“nah, i’ll use the window.” 

“wait what? why? you could die!?” you whisper shouted

“i can die happy now that i know you like me, and if i survive, i won’t have an absolute nerd as my english tutor!” she said as she started unlocking your window

“the door would’ve been better!” you exclaimed as she got a grip on the drain pipe beside your window

“you’re right, but i wouldn’t be labelled as a badass if i used the door!” and she started to climb down 

“at this point, you’re more like a dumbass than a badass, babe.” you giggled

“i’ll just look past the dumbass part and focus on the babe part, babe.” 

as she reached the ground, jiyoon smiled up at you, waved goodbye and naruto ran in the direction of her house.

turns out, jeon “jenyer” jiyoon wasn’t all bad news