#i have never intentionally used the draft feature here

[pluralthey]

is there a good place to start if we want to learn about idletry? im very interested in the story and all the bits and pieces revealed so far but i dont know if youve like, stated the basics both about the characters-in-story and how you’re releasing the comic

hi there. unfortunately, idletry became a passion project very abruptly and many details were added very quickly without regard for how long the project would take. once i did realize how large the project was, i decided that i would not even kid myself on the idea of holding in spoilers for the next 5 years, and those two factors combined make the information available very chaotic and slapdash -- somewhat intentionally.

i don't even have the comics tagged separately for easier access among the idletry content -- although, i could go back and give them a separate tag.

i can summarize the story and say that it's about a funny little talking honey badger/tasmanian devil named jessie gaylord who has for the last 10 years of her life been on heavy psychiatric medication in an attempt to mitigate a pervasive delusion that the world is a fictional story. she also has a notorious aggressive streak. these medications work primarily by leaving her so tired that she sleeps most of the time.

the story begins when her medical team has run out of typical medications to try, and they must order an older, more aggressive type of drug which is not commonly used anymore, and has a lengthier process to manufacturing and approving the drug. during this time, she is not on any medication, and she becomes more urgently fixated on convincing people that the delusion is true.

she ends up attempting to contact the writer, who is referred to as God, and she receives a response. she immediately attempts to write the story herself, and she's granted the ability to do anything within the story so long as she can write it out. (the intricacies and limitations of this power have been elaborated upon in a bunch of fragmentary posts, so i won't try to condense it here)

at the end of the first act, she kills the first writer and becomes the new God of her world. the rest of the story is about what she does after acquiring omnipotence, and it heavily features a character named fate -- or shiloh, as jessie calls her -- with whom she enters an intimate relationship.

she has a happy loving family composed of a father named adam, a mother named evelyn, and an older sister named emily. there is a later minor subplot about a cult following who worships her after she becomes God, and this cult is initially organized by an ant called samanthuel -- or samwich, as jessie calls them. these are usually the other characters i mention and i am too lazy to link them right now

the comic itself is currently being written. the script stands at around 51,000 words at the time of writing this as i work on the second act. after it's written, i will let it simmer for a few months and then write a second draft to start to relieve the story of its bloat. depending on its length at that point, i will either need to write a third draft, or i will start drawing the comic.

chances are, during the second draft, i will start to thumbnail or sketch scenes which receive little to no editing, as i know they will likely remain relatively unchanged even through multiple drafts.

the sketch strips are to tide me and an eager audience over in the meantime, but they've sort of dried up as i focus all of my attention on finishing the first draft and taking care of a puppy that was kind of just forced onto me.

i've made a couple of full-length comics before and they have taken years. it is, unfortunately, just the nature of the process. for idletry, i plan to self-publish the comic. i've never published something in print before, so that is the most daunting part for me.

the plan at the moment is to crowdfund this, but, to be frank with you, i no longer pay rent, and i care very much about having this comic as a printed book. i have no issue with paying the cost of printing out of my own pocket by the time it's done and am even anticipating that outcome ahead of time, despite having a pretty reliable audience by now.

i'm on the fence about releasing a digital book version, as i very much want to retain digital color versions of the pages that are more vibrant, but due to the explicit adult content of the story, i don't want it to be free-access.

tl;dr: it's about a lesbian incel with anger issues who's given omnipotence.

i'm still working on the story because i want it to be good.

i'm planning on printing it as a physical comic book once it's done.

[eemamminy-art]

fanfic askkkkkssssssss 👀😈?

👀 Do you have any WIPs that you would never let see the light of day? If yes, what are they about?

Currently that's all my ffxiv WIPs frankly :') idk how to feel about them or how to finish them... They're all really over the top smut and I'm like, kinda cringing at myself so I haven't gone back to finish/edit them 😖 There's f!grahawol, f!zenoswol (featuring the much hated "in from the cold" dinner scene, but sexy), and exselch but I realized the exselch one is kind of like the f!exselch I wrote before but with them being their normal guy selves so I got really hung up on like, why am I writing this... I kind of already wrote this... 😭 Maybe I will go back to them one day but they've all been languishing in my gdocs for the better part of the year 🥴

Also there's some first draft chapters from my stardew valley fic that got cut and I doubt I can repurpose them at all but I'm keeping them like, for my own knowledge at least ghdsjjgds also mostly smut parts because bruh that's embarrassing but also there's a few drafts of the finale that were cut too (the finale itself is still a wip but I do know how I want the fic to end more or less, whenever I get there)

😈 Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?

I don't know if I'd say hate necessarily because I'm fragile and don't want to think people are reading my fics and being like, mad about it? 😩 BUT ummm I know I am being inconsistent on a couple of punctuation things and I think there's probably some turbo nerd out there getting frustrated that sometimes I write a sentence like:

"Dialog," action. "More dialog."

And other times it's:

"Dialog," action, "More dialog."

Probably also someone is mad I use prolog and epilog and dialog but I'm an american I will use american english get your UE UE UE out of here! Maybe the run-on sentences too. I like to think it's stylized, and I could be more correct but I like the flavor of my writing reading as though it's someone telling you the story out loud. But yeah all that to say I am doing all those things intentionally, because the flow of the text matters 1000000% more to me than having the most correct english ever

OH!!! Also no one has said anything but I'm anticipating someone getting upset about POV changes mid-chapter. Gonna be one of those with later today's update so I'm bracing for it. For the record though if stuff like that takes you out of a story you're a turbo nerd, sorry to tell you 😞

Fanfic ask game

[thecatchat]

Organizing some thoughts

This is so much longer than I meant for it to be. I looked back at old posts using the archive feature on desktop and I was really meaning to just look for the post about the different dragon body parts and the different magics we gave them but I just kept finding cute, funny, or informative posts so here have a review of some of my favorite ideas we haven't seen in over a year. @thebadchoicemachine

Apparently we made Foolish into Daft, since it's one letter away from Draft, like drafting a plan. She's also a woman now, do we want to keep that? The name mishap came because when they introduced themselves to a exhausted, heat stricken sailor misheard the name and now everyone calls them that and it's a little too late to correct them now. Apparently they are now based off a turtle or sea turtle? Don't remember that part but I could roll with it.

I think we have Alex down as being like 8-10 years old physically? At least at first. How much do they age through out the lenses? I mean, with all the wonky time space dimension hopping and reality warping we have going on, they don't necessarily have to grow up.

Reminder for self mostly: replacing the SBI group is Revrie, god of the dimension Lull, basically a very flexible, light world. Very dream like. Revrie has adopted three Travelers (or they are all from Lull, I'm a sucker for found family but you imagined them all from Lull, I'm fine either way): Flame, Spark, and Ash.

Flame looks like they could kill you and would kill you. Either is from or really takes inspiration from apocalypse worlds and looks like he (they? she?) eats bricks for breakfast. They're a little mellowed out, but they still bounty hunt in random dimensions for fun and to keep in shape.

Spark looks like a cinnamon roll, would kill you. Could either be from or take lots of inspiration from super spy action movie type worlds. Has a ton of gadgets, small enough to crawl in vents, hyper competent in spying. Not the strongest but can kill you in 10 different ways with a spoon. Absolutely terrible at everything else. Never let them into a kitchen or do household chores. Small talk is abysmal. Look charming but once they open their mouth it's all over. Also, sparks = electricity = gadgets and tech.

Ash looks like they could kill you, is a cinnamon roll. Originally, I was getting werewolf vibes, but like hyena werewolf vibes. Now I'm rolling it through my brain. Maybe more Painted Wild Dog, or Maned Wolf, or maybe a different species entirely. Has the potential to break bones with their bites, but would prefer to prank and/or mess with people. And maybe a hug. Still mildly feral but in a cute, charming way. Just wants attention.

Suite and card titles for the Prowa quartet! Cue = Ace of Clubs. Rue = King of Spades. Bill = Queen of Diamonds. Switch = Jack of Hearts. Also, Switch is part chameleon and can change the color of his scales, which are dotted around his body like freckles. Also, I remember a post where Nite learned about Switch being slightly cold-blooded and he just, followed him around for the rest of the day, and heated up the rooms so Switch would be "safe from the cold" in a sense and that's too cute.

Dragon kingdom culture/slang. Enemies is an actual social title, referring to people who intentionally try to make your life harder or prevent you from reaching your goals. Used for things like people trying to get the same job position as you, annoying customers, wild animals, etc. Arch-Enemies are similar but more special: given to people who have genuine negative feelings towards the other, is often mutual, and born from personal fudes. Rivals are like Arch-Enemies but instead of coming from a place of hatred, it comes from the desire to see the other person grow and overcome challenges.

Another thing: Growing up, Nite was constantly being "summoned" places, summoned by his dad's, summoned by his soldiers, etc. I think "summon" is just short hand for "arriving/traveling to a place". If only to have the line "someone summon 911." or "Who summoned me?" jokes.

I should make memes for this story. I haven't done that since before the reboot.

We gave the soul/life draining powers to the people of the End Nation because it made their culture of constantly covering up all their skin and wearing masks make sense, especially since if you're already covering up every inch of skin, might as well dress up and exaggerate your body language to get your point across.

Found the post where we talk about different magics for the different parts of the body of the dragon. I have Thoughts about this but I will save it for when it is not 1:30 AM.

[dazzlerazz]

Three Hopes DLC Wishlist

A masterpost of things I wished for in the past for a Three Hopes DLC

Subject to be edited and is admittedly half finished cuz I realize I left this in the drafts and then forgot and I did not proofread lol

--------------

Gameplay

A bit for myself, but a paralogue betweeen Byleth and Shez where they test their strength against each other, like training, where you switch to playing Byleth halfway through. It eventually comes out to a tie regardless of how well the character played

Alternate training grounds maps. I mentioned it in another post, but Constance as a unit is SPECIFICALLY hindered by the current training yard map, as its always sunny. There's also so many times you can train in the same small rectangular boringly-brown place before you just stop trying to use the training feature. Here is the aforementioned post

Easier S Rank Cycles of Nostalgia Paralogue. Possible other units to play as, potentially other nameless soldiers, like a gremory, a wyvern flier, and an armored unit. It is grueling to run around the entire battlefield as a single unit, I spent lots of time trying to get S rank, something I've complained about in multiple posts

Story

Azure Gleam - Fix Edelgard's role in the story

I went into this in multiple posts, but I don't like how Edelgard was dealt with in Azure Gleam. It felt like the developers intentionally took her out of a villain role and put her into the role of "trapped heroine", a clearly right vs wrong storyline with Thales instead of moral gray between routes like it was in Houses. I know this is something a dlc would not be able to fix, but I'm putting it in here anyway cuz I can

A return to Abyss. Sitri is absent in Hopes, because of course she is. Maybe there would be a paralogue if Byleth and Jeralt survive that bring them back to the monastery to find Sitri. I don't have any ideas for this at the moment

The return of the cut Blackened Embers

Characters

Post timeskip outfits for most church members. Hopes had the option to do this, as it was a complaint in Houses, but it was never done

Playable Hanneman, Gilbert, Anna, Alois, and Cyril, who were all playable in Houses

Hanneman and Manuela both can be recruited outside of Scarlet Blaze, whereas in the game they're both route locked to SB

Caspar and Ashe support chain

Little Things

Change a unit's outfit to their post timeskip Houses outfit

The return of dlc costumes. Make costumes able to be worn by any gender, unchanged to how they look in Houses (ex. suits for the girls and maid outfits for the boys)

More interactions with characters of your choice that feel more personal. We have expeditions, and to four locations at that, it would be nice to have something else just like it. Also the ability to go to a fifth location, tho I'm not sure what. I mentioned this in another post, but possibility the ability to leave off of wyverns instead of horses (inspired by Yuri's being allergic to horses)

Outfit accessories, such as glasses, bows, or other hair accessories, similar to how it is in (base) FE Engage

Alternate Lighter Asura outfit. The original looks bulky, more like a tanky unit, where Shez's original armor looks lightweight and easy to move around it. This is just a me thing, but maybe an alternate Asura outfit. it is possible to use Shez's lighter armor while in the Asura class, but cmon, that's no fun!

MORE SAVE SLOTS

Shez

Alternate hairstyles for Shez. More specifically, a longer hair alt for M!Shez and a shorter alt for F!Shez

Camp

A return of fishing. Please. I really liked the fishing minigame in Houses.

[unexpectedreylo]

The Reylo Heresies #1

Heresy:  Reylo wasn’t planned as a ship.

It’s an assumption among Reylos that the romantic relationship was entirely planned from the beginning and it was absolutely Lucasfilm’s intention they would end up the one true pairing of the sequel trilogy.

I’m here to tell you I don’t think that’s true at all.  Most of what we got was basically an accident, a confluence of factors that added up to something nobody really planned or expected.

What happened was the Jedi Killer--a character from early drafts/outlines that ultimately became Kylo Ren--was meant to be something of an antagonist for the female protagonist who became Rey.  Given that both were gifted in the Force there would naturally be some kind of connection between them, some push-pull, some light side/dark side tension.  Those elements made it in the films.  The oft-posted/retweeted concept art from The Art of TFA shows the Jedi Killer in a Phantom of the Opera type from behind embrace of the female protagonist.  (Weirdly and fortuitously enough it was modeled from a photo shoot featuring Adam Driver some time before he was actually cast.)  This is often used as evidence Reylo was “planned” from the beginning.  Aside from this artwork though there’s nothing suggested in Lucas’s outlines or known earlier drafts of the TFA script that Rey and Kylo Ren were being set up in the same sense Anakin and Padmé or Han and Leia were.  In fact my initial impression after seeing TFA was that Rey and Kylo were cousins!

Any discussion about romance by JJ Abrams or others involved with the TFA when the film came out was very cagey and not very specific.  In fact if anything, TFA flirts but doesn’t get to first base with anybody:  not Kylo and Rey, not Rey and Finn, and not Finn and Poe.  All Abrams did was establish a kind of connection between the dynamic duo but he didn’t realize that if you have a young attractive man and a young attractive woman looking at each other intensely a lot or if you have her faint in his strong arms then he carries her away, people are going to think there’s something going on.  Lightsabers?  That’s just foreplay!

I don’t think Adam or Daisy intentionally played up any sexual tension in their scenes together to give us an impression about something in TFA.  I think it just happened.  Early bird Reylos picked up on it.  Some critics, including the one who wrote the TFA review for Time magazine, picked up on it.  And perhaps, just maybe, Rian Johnson picked up on it too.

I think Abrams was shooting for some vague Force siblings, good twin/evil twin kind of thing.  Johnson IMO saw a thread of something else as a result of the way Daisy and Adam played off each other and didn’t want to just repeat the Luke and Leia thing.  So in TLJ he pushed the relationship more into the romantic territory and let the sexual tension between Rey and Kylo go nuts.  There’s a reason why the number of Reylos exploded after that movie came out, me included.  Johnson pulled every visual trick in the book to make you think there’s more going on than just the Force.  It’s really similar to the arc between Ana de Armas and Chris Evans in “Knives Out” but way more intense.  You could cut the sexual tension with a knife and serve it with tea.  It was also absolutely the best thing about TLJ and the sequels in general.  

Johnson left Rey and Kylo back in their enemies corners at the end of TLJ but the Reylo beast was on the loose and there was no putting it back in the cage.  I’m sure Lucasfilm, Chris Terrio, and JJ Abrams were pulling their hair out because they had no idea how to resolve something they didn’t intend in the first place.  Johnson had been given free reign and I’m sure that will never happen again with any Star Wars feature film.  If one is ever made.

My best piece of evidence that Reylo wasn’t really planned was its near total absence in Colin Trevorrow’s Duel of the Fates screenplay.  In fact, Colin T. forced Johnson to stick in that “Hi, I’m Poe” scene at the end of TLJ to justify a kissing scene with Rey and Poe in his script.  DOTF features Rey and Kylo fighting like Itchy and Scratchy until he’s dying and decides to be nice and tell Rey she was named after a beach in San Diego.  (Solana, in case you’re wondering.)  If Reylo had been planned there would’ve been a lot more than that.

Ultimately JJerio had to acknowledge Reylo even if there was no intent whatsoever to give Rey and Ben a HEA, so we got (let’s be honest) way better scenes between them in TROS than in DOTF.  There wasn’t even a dyad concept in DOTF.  And no kiss.

To summarize, we got Reylo largely from Rian Johnson as well as the chemistry between Daisy and Adam.  Nobody could’ve planned that from the beginning.

[badassxbirdy]

August Activity Update - Pinned Post

It’s time once again for an activity update! If you’re new here: these posts help me to keep track of what the frick I’ve been doing, particularly when tumblr breaks or the brain fog strikes. There was no update posted last month, so this one includes replies from 1st June to 1st August, as well as things in the queue or drafts as of today's date (5th August). Everything else can be found in previous updates under this tag. There’s also the full thread tracker here.

If you want to see all IC interactions without the other stuff, click here. If you’d like to start something new, there are opens and memes, or you can just hit up the DM’s. You can also add Tyler on Discord for IC texting. Username is the same as her url.

The full activity update (along with OOC housekeeping) is below the cut. Bold text = links.

Now onto the update!

OOC Housekeeping:

I’ve been making some changes to the way I use rpthreadtracker. If we interact regularly, have quite a few threads going, or we’re interacting across multiple blogs, you should have been sent a link that shows only our interactions. Click here for the post regarding that.

I'm probably going to go through the queue in the next couple of days, and just yeet the next round of replies out onto the dash. RIP your dash when I suddenly take over it.

Threads, replies, and other IC interactions:

(in alphabetical order by username)

@astormymind

Library ghost with Finn (link)

On the train with Maze (queued)

@demcnsinmymind

Ty gives Lance a haircut (queued)

Doctor/nurse Ty is in the house! (link)

Lance’s rep. (link)

Ty's demon 'friend' is so screwed. 😂 (link)

Taking Lance on a hunt. (queued)

Azzy proves a point (drafted, but almost done!)

Car trouble (drafted)

@demonstigma

Nosy Tyler is nosy (queued)

@derschwarzeengel

Charmed AU (queued)

Judging 50 shades (link)

Damon actually opens up! 😱 (drafted)

Sick!Ty = sulking!Ty (link)

@florafound

"Hold still, I'm trying to help!" (queued)

@innerwar

“You probably shouldn’t drink the tap water.” with Baily (queued)

@kingofthewebxxx

"I'm so hungry, have any suggestions?" (link)

@loyaltyguided

Ocean hedgehogs/blaming Michael. (queued)

@magaprima

Demon problems part 2: electric boogaloo (link)

@nightiingaled

Proteus is concerned. (link)

Eli being his adorable self. (link)

@omnipotenceisoverrated

"This whole thing seems incredibly cliché, don't you think? (link)

@sugarandwhiskey

Dumbass teens and cannibal teacher ghosts. (link)

@timelxrd-victorious

Ty meets the doctor. (drafted)

@vreeshim

Thank you for the starter! It's drafted, and I'll reply asap. ❤️

Headcanon, dash games, and assorted silliness:

Thread commentaries, featuring Ty's demon/Marbas about to get wrecked. 😂 (link)

Tyler needs a warning label (link)

The youtube algorithm knows too much. (link)

👌/'subtle hints' with Lance. 😂 (link)

No romo. (link)

Dash game: 9 movies that I could watch 500 times. (link)

Attention fellow Brits: Americans think frowning is something you do with your mouth, NOT your eyebrows. My flabbers are gasted. (link)

A very important disco boi at Pride. YOU'RE WELCOME. (link)

I think that’s everything, but as always, please let me know if I’ve missed something. I never intentionally drop threads without notifying, rest assured that if it’s not here I am either having a brain fart or I simply have not seen it. Remember to be kind to yourselves, and stay safe! ❤️ — Em

[dayseternal-blog]

Please, can you make a draft from ohnej's art of day 7? Please? 🥺 Pleeeeeeeease?????

Hehe anon knew that @ohnej‘s stuff is right up my ally 😂

Anon is talking about this art!

Ohnej has also been drawing the Clan Leader!Hinata AU here, here, and here!!!!

It’s always given me RTN!Hinata vibes with the more angular features and tight-fitting dresses.  I’ve wanted to write a fic for her stuff, but I’ve never made RTN!Hinata before, so I was also nervous about that...

Hmm...

Here’s something small!

Clan Leader!Hinata AU

She can still feel the aggravation piercing white-hot through her veins as they leave the Hokage’s office.

Not even five minutes into their arrival, he turned his chair around to face the window.  (Because in the end, she knows.  He doesn’t really have the guts to face her.)

Still, all went according to their plan.  She knew they got him once that facade, his professionalism, cracked, and he turned around and stood.  Always, always trying to use his ridiculous height to his advantage.  (As if his stature is enough to make her weak?)

Her eyes can see though all of it, all of him, in just a single glance.  He’s always chasing after ideals, after things he doesn’t and can’t have, and now.  Now it sickens her.  How he tries to use others in the name of cooperation and an optimistic future.

So he raises the property tax, knowing, knowing it will affect her clan the most.  Does her family not already serve the village with their very flesh and blood?  Are they not the treasured secret of Konoha?  The most desired, loyal allied clan of any hidden village?

Everyone else sees him as such an honest, hardworking man.  Sincere and transparent to the bone.

But she knows the truth.

Hanabi giggles, and they both don’t fail to notice how men’s eyes follow them through the village.  “Oh Nee-sama, if looks could kill, you’d have our Nanadaime begging for his life.”

“If only,” she huffs.  “His ego would never allow it.  I’m sure he’d fall over dead before admitting that he’s dying.”

Her younger sister outright laughs, her cackle high like bells.  “And they all say ‘he’s selfless’.  You’re the only one who hates him so.”

*You know I can’t stand men like him.  Saying one thing when he wants or means something else.”

“Hmm?  You mean he didn’t really mean to raise our taxes?”

“Of course not.  I told you before that he’s just trying to waste our time.”

Hanabi raises one angled brow high.  “What does he really want, then?”

She rolls her eyes, and a memory of his gaze trailing down the deep plunge of her neckline flashes through her memory.  “Heaven knows.”

But she knows the truth.

*

Not even half a year later, and they’re back again.  Negotiating tax policy again.

His brow furrows when they breeze in, his features intentionally schooled.  Each slight shift of his eyes, however unnoticeable to an untrained observer, but her eyes never miss a thing.

“What is the meaning of this?” Hanabi digs in.  “We told you we won’t stand for this!  Our clan can’t help the fact that we settled here earlier than everyone else.  You said you would raise hotel and other visitor accommodation taxes!”

He sighs, gaze averting, as if he really doesn’t have the time to be bothered by their complaints.  “And as I’ve said before, tax rates are not entirely up to me.  The daimyo demands more funds for infrastructure efforts across the nation.  We all need to do our part as the wealthiest village.”

Hinata steps forward.

His gaze, hardening, tracks back to her, and it’s this stubborn expression of his that she loathes.

She takes care to lean slowly onto his desk, to push stacks of papers on the side just to make ample room for her trespass, and, especially, to see that slight look of annoyance curl underneath his “Hokage mask.”  She sees the tension in his throat, like he’s about to snap just from her proximity, but, oh, no, it’s too late for him to swivel his little chair around.  No, not this time.  In a low whisper, she asks, “You suggest that we, the Hyuuga, are not doing our part?”

Blue storms against her own glare.  His jaw remains locked.  He’s not backing down, but he’s not defending himself, either, and she can imagine chipping into his very skin, slicing into the sinews of his frame until it all peels away...

Uzumaki Naruto, without the stupid titles that he wears as if to validate his existence.

“Hokage-sama?” she coos, and it’s with great satisfaction to see how much he hates it when she calls him that.  Once upon a time, perhaps not so long ago, she called him differently, but simple sentimentality doesn’t forgive the empty shell he’s become today.  “I give you my body, my life of service, and that’s still not enough?”

Discord stews within his eyes, uncertainty flashes plain as day across his expression, and within only a fraction of a second she remembers throwing herself between a pinned boy and a monster.

She laughs aloud, abruptly standing straight, and turns around to face Hanabi.

Her sister looks too amused by the rather overtly flirtatious exchange, and she’s secretly relieved that it appeared as only that.

Not an unwelcome trip down memory lane, just the scent of ashes from doused flames between two never-could-be’s.

“Hanabi, we’re done here.”  She hooks arms with her little sister and leads them back to the door.  A glance cast over her shoulder, and she’s only angrier at the sad man he’s become.  “The Hyuuga clan does not agree to your terms.  Change them.”

Hanabi is turning the handle when he interrupts their exit.

“Hinata, you know that you’ve done more than enough.”  His voice, low, is pitiful, and for a wild moment, she thinks to argue.

Never would she hold that time over his head.  Never would she ever think to guilt-trip him into favoring her clan, and so, she stands taller, intent on reframing this entire conversation as best she can.  “Well, that’s new,” she jokes in her sister’s direction.  “With the way these men carry on, I’ve been led to think they could never get enough of me.”

Hanabi’s jaw drops, and her hand flies up in mock modesty.  “Nee-sama!” she practically squeals.

She indulges Hanabi with a knowing smile.  “Let’s go.”

“Wait, Hinata-”

“See?” she sighs in exaggerated exasperation.  “Hokage-sama, you can have more of me the next time you try to raise our taxes.  We have other, more important matters to attend to now.  Good bye.”

“Hinata, I’m seri-”

Shutting the door solidly, she tries to leave the dust of her feelings behind, too.

She knows...

He’s too proud to pick them up anyway.

-------------

😱  This needs a second chapter!!!!!!!!!!  ***screaming*** I enjoyed writing this far longer tonight than I should have.

[soukoku-rivals]

Author's Note

There are so many things I would love to tell you! But, I decided to keep it short and simple. After all, Rivals is a comic, you're not here to read blocks of text.

I will address what are, in my opinion, most important issues.

1. Why is Fyodor actually alive after chapter 9?

Well, we had an 'in comic' explanation - Chuuya wants to believe Fyodor has some feelings for him after Fyodor intentionally missed all of his vital organs when stabbing him. Dazai tries to be a better person so he cannot simply kill someone who is already tied and defenseless, no matter how much he hates him.

Real life explanation - it was the best choice for the continuity. Rivals is very much an AU when it comes to Chuuya's past and quite possibly Dazai's past [I honestly know nothing about Dazai's past before 15. There might be something mentioned in Stormbringer but I avoid spoilers until we get official English translation]. However, it still takes place after season 2 of the anime and the Dead Apple movie. Which means season 3 comes after.

Basically, if you ignore the 15 episodes, you can imagine season 3 continues after Rivals and Dazai and Chuuya are somewhat dating at that point, which is also why Ranpo found it so easy to outsmart Chuuya. And then, all the events in the anime/canon slowly lead to them finding the Book and the Epilogue.

I know, you have to stretch your imagination a little to make that work, but honestly, it's fun to imagine Soukoku dating while all that stuff is going on.

Obviously, none of that could happen if Fyodor dies, so here you go!

2. Does Chuuya actually have feelings for Fyodor?

Short answer - yes. And it's not only because the author ships Fyoya. [I ship almost all Chuuya/X pairings, most notably Chuuya/Sigma, deal with it.]

As explained in the comic, Fyodor was there when Chuuya had nobody and nothing after he lost his memories. He told Chuuya they were partners and lovers, and Chuuya was his most loyal man. Obviously, that would influence Chuuya's opinion.

We, as readers, outside observers, didn't realle get to see much of their interactions [I couldn't make the chapters that long] but we did see that Fyodor is a manipulative bastard. But it wouldn't fully work if he wasn't gentle at times. As manipulative as Fyodor was, he has also shown compassion and care towards Chuuya in his state. That purposefully missed stabbing at the end only confirmed to Chuuya that Fyodor doesn't actually want him dead. Maybe he wants to hurt him to push him away, like Dazai did all those years ago? To protect him. To make sure the Mafia and Dazai know they aren't working together.

How can Chuuya not appreciate that? After all there was only one person before who hurt him not to actually hurt him but for his protection.

So yeah, Chuuya believes Fyodor has some feelings for him, he believes there might be a good person hiding in the rat, just like there was a good person hiding in Dazai. Dazai and Fyodor were too similar at one point for Chuuya not to develop any feelings for him.

I'm not saying it's healthy or logical. I'm saying this is how it happened.

3. Does Fyodor have feelings for Chuuya?

Short answer - also, surprisingly, yes! I mean, how can you not love Chuuya?

I couldn't really show it clearly in the comic. We already had so many characters and Fyodor/Fyoya weren't the focal point so I couldn't dive to deep. However, here is what I can say now.

At the start, obviously, Fyodor saw Chuuya only as a tool. Chuuya was a powerful weapon, with a powerful ability and most importantly, he served as a great distraction for Dazai.

Fyodor, however, made a mistake when he convinced Chuuya they were lovers. Because that meant he had to spend more time with him than originally planned. And as much as Fyodor hates abilities and believes they are a sin, he could not not notice all Chuuya's good qualities. Even rushing that mission to destroy some building, when he knew it was possible Chuuya wouldn't survive, was mostly because Fyodor wanted to push him away. And to push his feelings away. He knew he was growing fond of Chuuya and if he didn't stop that soon, he might grow some conscience.

Unfortunately for him, it was too late. And thus, we go back again to the train station stabbing. For all intents and purposes, the most beneficial thing for Fyodor to do was to kill Chuuya right there and there. With Chuuya dead he would have been able to leave with Atsushi, find the Book and leave Dazai broken after his love's death and Mafia without its most powerful weapon.

Fyodor just couldn't bring himself to do that.

4. Extra - unused sequel idea.

This has nothing to do with any unexplained plot points but, yeah, there was a sequel idea. A few actually. But let's go with the one that has most sense.

At the train station, after Soukoku leave, only Atsushi stays there to keep an eye on Fyodor while Loki searcher through his memories for the Book.

Unbeknownst to Atsushi, while Locke goes through Fyodor's memories, he finds something very interesting. A memory of Fyodor who looks like he's talking to his mirror reflection but his words are directed at Loki. And with a smile on his face, Fyodor informs Loki that the Book can change reality, he can destroy people and give them life. There is already a person created by the Book. From nothing! So, it is not entirely unbelievable to assume that it could bring somebody to life. Like, let's say, a certain red headed girl.

If Loki helps Fyodor escape, he will be able to bring Hela back to life.

Locke loves his daughter very much, so obviously, he agrees. And instead of lead to season 3 when Fyodor escapes, he get an Agency/Mafia vs Fyodor/Locke story.

This is not happening but it was a nice idea.

And this time, this is really it! There is nothing more left for me to say, Rivals is done!

Thank you so much for reading it, some of you were here for years, some joined only a few month ago, some will find this story in the future, but I thank you all the same! I would have never gotten this far without you. You are all very precious to me. I hope to see you soon, when @kkfil-soukoku starts updating.

And now, for a couple of unrelated announcements:

Merch design is going great. I have all die cut stickers and the second charm already finished, and most of them is already published on Kofi for supporters. Also, the Rivals sticker page is all drafted. Support me on Kofi to view them all and to get an extra sticker with your order: https://ko-fi.com/hayatepl

After Kiss Kiss Fall in <Love3 comic is done, I will be working on an original idea, to be published on Webtoons/Tapas. It's going to be a supernatural adventure story featuring a witch, a warrior and a dragon, set in modern times. For more info when that happens, follow me on @hayateart and @sylvankaart

I also started using twitter again: https://twitter.com/SylvankaArt

And instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sylvankaart/ [Yes, it's all SylvankaArt, I thought it would make it easier to remember. As for tumblr HayateArt blog will remain my fanblog for fanart but all original posts will be published on SylvankaArt.]

[ibrithir-was-here]

Hi! If, theoretically, the Ring Babies AU were to occur in the Silmaril Babies AU, how do you think that would change things? Because I’m thinking of possibly going down the route of having the Ring Babies in my story (because I love them so much)

Ooooh! Ok so first change would be that making them children would definitly be intentional in this, as opposed to like, a happy accident the way I've pictured it in other timelines.

Tyelpe is 100% inspired by memories of his glowing aunts to try his hand at creating babies of his own, using rings as their focal point the way the silmarils are for the triplets. (Not sure if they'd have the feature of changing back into rings when they're scared since they don't burn those who are of ill intent, so it might not be the most protective feature)

Of course the real question here is /why/ would Tyelpe try to make magical jewelry children when he saw just how badly everything turned out with his aunts?

In the actual canon timeline he makes the rings to help heal and protect what's good in Arda, perhaps intentionally creating Three and having their powers mirror the fates of the silmarils in an attempt to make up for the damages that the silmarils caused to the world? As sort of attempt at penance for what his grandfather's creations had lead to.

There could be something of that in this AU, though I also feel that if he intends to make them children Tyelpe wouldn't t want to put so much pressure on them.

Tbh the most likely way I personally see the Ring Babies happening in this AU would probably lead into that Silvergifting picture I did where Sauron comes back to find that Tyelpe's made them kids. Like, they would have been working on the normal rings of power together before Annatar goes off to do his secret master ring, (they'd be already in a deep relationship at this point, probably just straight up married or Tyelpe would never presume to do the next part) and while he's gone Tyelpe starts drafting the three, and probably his loneliness from being so happy with Annatar and now so unsure now that's he's gone off without saying when he'll return gets the better of Tyelpe's judgement, and he decides to use the Three Rings, the greatest of his creations and thus the most likely to work, to see if he can recreate what his grandfather did, and gain a family of hia own to love and hold again (you know since everyone else is like, dead :/ or mad at him for marrying Annatar >cough Galadriel cough<)

And then of course once they're done he has the realization that Annatar is Sauron and he's gonna march on Eregion to get what he things are merely rings of power aaaand it could really go several ways from there, some good if love can win out over greed for power, and some...not so good if it doesn't :/

[lacktastrophe]

Daisy MegaPost Pt1

Update: 3/7/2021

This one’s been in the shop for a couple of years now. I think I started this way back in 2019 but I just became just far too busy to work on huge posts again. I had anticipated to have all of Daisy written up during the break that BCB had, but I became in need of a break myself too. Part two was written up, but I never went further.

I had come back to this recently and made some changes. I wasn’t too happy with the way I used to write and I’ve been editing this over and over, until I noticed it wasn’t keeping them. I’ve published it now since there wasn’t any point just keeping it in drafts and it’s more or less done, just not in this state I’m perfectly happy with, but it seems to be keeping my changes now it’s in this state. I anticipate I’ll still be making some edits. Before I continue on with Part 2. As for part 3 and onwards, I can’t give a time frame.

With the webtoons version way ahead of the chapters here, I’ll probably make progressive updates and start using those over the old Volume 1 art, I’d anticipate the webtoons version is a retelling of the story and thus there might be some retcons, like how Kizuna was replaced with Stacy. I’d anticipate some changes might make different meanings for the future.

I still enjoy examining the story and characters. I still plan to do some introspections to the other characters I haven’t come to, but it’ll be far fewer and in-between than years ago. I have other projects and those need priority. 

But I’m happy that people still enjoy reading these.

---

We’re onto the main characters now, things are going to need to change with the way mega-posts are going to be published from this point forward. My previous mega-posts are usually just one long post, hence the name. Though they’re starting to become uncontrollable, and Tumblr is clamping down, or at least not really working with excessive word counts.

Uh oh. . .

Well, the old mega-posts can still be accessed but you’ll need a direct link, they won’t show up on the mainroll and I’d be surprised if they still show up these days, and I’d have to guess this has something to do with the anti-spam detection on Tumblr.

If you were interested in the previous mega-posts, they can be accessed on their own page from my blog’s front page. I just wouldn’t try reading some of the earlier ones on an app, it’ll struggle. 

The other problem was with the word count, even without the characters being the prime focus, they’re starting to get long. Abbey’s alone was a 16000  behemoth. This surprised me, as despite him being a secondary character there was an awful lot to discover and talk about. Augustus, despite being a character who appeared much more in-between chapters but much fewer than Abbey, was nearly 21000 words. If there was that much to talk about with the secondary characters, the same method of just dumping as much as I can into one post is clearly not going to work when we start approaching the main characters. I had to split both of them up for my own convenience.

The main change is to make these smaller so they’re friendlier on the app and the website; maybe aim for 2000-5000 words without focusing too heavily on trying to get through on as many chapters as possible and see how far we go. 

The plan from this point forward is to do a large collection of write ups but then deploy them progressively. That’ll also give anyone who’s keen a chance to give feedback or who wants to talk further about something. 

Sound good?

Me too! So without further ado, let’s get a move on and have a look at Daisy.

----

So, our first protagonist, where do we start with  Daisy?

How you’re first introduced to Daisy really depends on whether you read the book or followed the comic through the site. The book’s opening chapter, ‘Like a Bittersweet Candy Bowl’ introduces you to Daisy as a massive bookworm who does well in school. She’s pretty smart!

Book in hand, we’d pretty much believe that right off the bat. She appears like the most studious in this group of friends. And we’d be right! She even puts the ever-perfect Mike to shame. She’s nothing less than a perfect student. 

‘Perfect’ could be an understatement, Daisy is a literal freak of nature when it comes to her academics; as when Daisy and the kids transition to Roseville high, we find her already in classes well advanced than her peers.

Daisy is just that incredible!

Through the website, ‘Simple Pleasures’ aims to introduce the kids in much the same way, but there is far less in the way of monologuing and we’re introduced as the characters interact. In much the same way as the introduction chapter in volume 1, we learn that Daisy is quite the bookworm and school-obsessed student, even during weekends. But that’s not the only thing dominating her thoughts, as when Lucy goes out on her walk, the first person she runs into is Daisy who is looking for someone else in particular!

You guessed it!

Oh GOD, does Daisy like boys! Can you guess who she’s got her eye on?

Of course it’s Mike. Are you surprised she’s got a deep crush on the boy who seems very perfect himself? Everywhere that Mike goes, you can be sure that there’s a shadow in the shape of Daisy not too far behind. . .

Wherever he goes. . .

Daisy doesn’t shy from showing her interest in him when the convenience calls for it. Ah, young love.

Eventually, Daisy would find love, though it wouldn’t be with Mike. It would however be the second longest running relationship in the comic if you consider Mike and Sandy, with an admirer of hers. 

Still, suffice to say, even after every attempt gets shot down in the most spectacular way, Daisy bounces back -- Like a daisy. Her shining ray of positivity follows her everywhere.  It’s all in the name, after all. Daisy still manages to rise up with her sunny disposition. 

But not every time.

As the story progresses, little by little, we start seeing that there’s more to Daisy. We start to see that not everything is bright and happy like her name-sake despite appearances. Things would be far from perfect, and underneath that smiling face is a character suffering with low self-esteem in that very same area; her appearance; believing their Ragamuffin/Selkirk-Rex heritage is letting them down and putting them in misery. This tends to be particularly true on rainy days, when all the hours she spends of a morning brushing down her fur become undone when the droplets causes it to fluff up and the curls start showing. Daisy attributes these traits to the reason she isn’t quite as easily noticed by the boys as the other girls, setting up for a number of stories involving her in Volume1, and opening her to be taken advantage of in the pursuit of attention and affection.

Not all the characters gain admirers or attention and for most of these characters, this is fine. But Daisy is not one of those and this above all things has an enormous impact on her. She wants to be noticed and receive affection, particularly from Mike, and others to a degree. 

It’s when faced with multiple rejections from her dream boyfriend we also progressively discover a side of her shown to be more envious if not resentful of a few others who have it so easy, particularly with one such character inside her friend circle.

As you can imagine, these weaknesses will eventually put Daisy in danger as she tries her best to come up with ways to cope and make changes in order to improve her life, especially if the means are at the cost of logical reasoning like taking advice from the seediest boy in the school to attain her goals. She isn’t infallible; Intelligence doesn’t necessarily mean smarts. Even with someone who does as well in school as Daisy does, there’s always room to grow. 

But until that happens, Daisy often finds herself in trouble when her personal feelings, ambitions and dreams do the talking for them on pursuit of happiness, for herself and others.

And oh boy, doesn’t Daisy make more than her own fair share of mistakes.

Let’s move onto the story, it starts with Simple pleasures, the first chapter.

This chapter serves to introduce us to the main group of characters central to the story and so features the aloof and prickly Lucy, the playboy Paulo, the ever-perfect Mike and the bookworm Daisy. It starts with Lucy on a morning walk and progressively running into each of them. With Daisy specifically, it starts with Daisy coming across her first and greeting her by shouting ‘Hey’ behind her.

Except...Lucy ignores her, and we don’t know why -- Is Lucy doing this intentionally? She’s in a world of her own at the moment with her singing. Are they friends? Is she just so aloof she doesn’t realise she’s there?

Well, Daisy isn’t going to let herself be ignored so easily and she really needs Lucy for something. So she goes to get her attention by impulsively grabbing onto Lucy’s tail. This would turn out to be a very critical mistake that one of the other protagonists just can’t stop helping himself from doing, and because of that we notice that Lucy isn’t as aloof as she seems, and reciprocates by twisting around and kicking her in the face.

Only to find that the person she was expecting was actually Daisy, much to her surprise. There’s a reason she never noticed her.

The first chapter has a number of objectives, it serves to set up the tone of the comic by showing the dynamic between the main group of friends, but also displays their characteristics. We already learn a couple of things from Daisy and Lucy’s interaction here. We learn that Lucy has a short fuse when it comes to unwanted contact. She appears aloof, but the main reason for Lucy not acknowledging Daisy initially is through the understanding that she’s partially deaf, unable to hear out of her left ear in similar in characteristic with her breed, the Khao Manee. Many of the other characters will make this mistake too and often at times Lucy doesn’t make it obvious she can’t hear what’s going on around them and needs to ask about what transpired much later. Lucy’s aloofness will be questioned in time as we start seeing more of her.

Daisy had forgotten about Lucy’s disability because something else was more important. And naturally, we learn that Daisy has, no less; a bit of a crush on the forefront of her mind. And we learn here that crush is on Mike, one of their friends at school, and her reasoning for bothering Lucy is that she’s only looking for him. What we come to learn later is it’s a little known fact that wherever Lucy is, Mike is often not too far away. In fact Lucy is never off on her own by herself. 

Sadly for Daisy, Lucy doesn’t know where he is, so Daisy runs off in the opposite direction. That’s about as much of Daisy as we see until the next chapter. 

Before we move on, let’s talk more about their interaction. As brief as it was, the interaction gives off more in the subtext into the status of the relationships between these characters and the others. I anticipate as new readers many of the details of this interaction just fly over heads, accepting these two are friends and this is just how they are. But being as late into the comic as we are, I feel we’re already seeing some of the signs of what’s to come in the story through this short interaction. Not everything is as it seems.

Most of this payload of information is laid in the question that Daisy poses after Lucy asks her what she’s after. When Lucy states she hasn’t seen Mike, Daisy asks ‘Oh no, did you upset him?’ 

Immediately we’re given some insight into the triangle that exists between these characters and their relationship between one another, and insight into the state of these relationships.

Starting with Mike and Lucy’s relationship as the question is directed about the two of them, we learn that the friendship isn’t without it’s issues, and we’d be quick to pass this off initially as something that happens from time to time. Fight’s happen, it’s a fact of life, and it happens more so when you’re a kid and figuring things out, yourself and life.  Reading through the story, we would find the two inseparable in the later chapters and we never look at Daisy’s question again. But reading through BCB again from as late in the comic as we are, we have to wonder why this question specifically.

What we learn much later in the comic as we progress through is that Mike and Lucy’s relationship is much more complicated than what it appears to be. Much later, we see that the two do argue from time to time, until we get to the point where the plaster and apologies aren’t mending the cracks. The friendship isn’t quite as clean cut as it was made out to be and we start seeing some back stories into the characters. What appears to be a competitive rivalry through volume 1 between two friends is really something more sinister. By the time we reach Volume 4, we learn these two are really anything but friends.

For the moment, Daisy’s casual interaction gives off a sense of normality in their environment and understanding the answer to the question would actually help plan out her next move if we were to consider that maybe there was some intent behind the question. But we’ll get to the nature of it soon.

Without knowing too much about the kids as early in the story. I’d feel we’d put our trust in the kids to tell the story for us, and Daisy does come off as being quite perceptive and trustworthy immediately being the positive bookkeeper she is, she would be the expert for us until such a time as we become the experts. 

One thing we’d discover much later on our own is that the Mike and Lucy are inseparable. In one way or another, they will find each other and act like close friends again. And Daisy knows this too without specifically pointing it out. Already suggesting that they’ve fought, it would only be a matter of time before they made up again, whether that takes minutes or hours. No matter how big the town is again, so long as they’ve got each other in their thoughts, they’ll stumble upon each other in no time, almost like a six sense.

It could be said that this is for the sake of convenience in the story in getting them to interact faster in the comic and resolve disputes, and that would be right. But BCB takes this and turns it into a running gag between just these two characters. There are more than a few jokes that exist in Volume 1 to make this seem like these two are made for each other in the way that they will eventually run into each other no matter how big the town is. One such joke is seen in Volume 1 through Mike’s inability to surprise Lucy on her Birthday. It’s so powerful, even Lucy’s auditory disability doesn’t stop her from catching him just before he can do it, even if the hiding spot isn’t obvious.

We’ve only seen this fail once, and that was in ‘Its all in the mind’ when Mike does sneak up on her, but Lucy has very much moved on from Mike at this point, so we’d have to wonder if this is something to do with them both being in Sync, we might not know.

-

The question Daisy asks doesn’t just pertain to Mike and Lucy’s relationship however, it also begs the question to Lucy and Daisy’s relationship at the same time. In fact, if it wasn’t for Daisy’s sunny disposition and Lucy’s stone-faced responses, the entire interaction would appear quite rude; Daisy’s question isn’t whether or not she’s seen him, only if she’s upset him, shedding some poor light on Lucy’s personality.

It’s important to remember that while these two are friends at our current point in the comic, they did not start out as friends, especially when you consider Confrontation, as we’re coming up to. Daisy, while she was amicable around Lucy and quite hospitable to her in the friend group, has to contend with her as being this roadblock to getting to Mike. Lucy seemed more aloof around her, but there’s more than enough to suggest that Lucy had other mutual feelings.

Understanding now that there is a rivalry between the two (or a one-sided rivalry, take your pick), we can understand why that particular question had been asked. Its tent though is to give more reason to Daisy’s next move: If Lucy did divulge she had fought with him; then it would only be a matter of time before Mike showed up, as Mike would feel the need to apologise and through their innate ability, would find each other, it would just be a matter of time. If she hadn’t; then Mike could be just about anywhere. 

It turns out to be the later. And too infatuated with Mike (or not interested in hanging out with Lucy, take your pick), Daisy does not simply stay with her to wait and runs off in the opposite direction, hoping to find him first. 

It’s when Daisy is no longer in the focus, we can see that Lucy isn’t exactly as stonewalled as she initially appeared to be, blushing from the interaction.

As possible that Lucy is only reacting because of her stupid head-over-heels attitude for that other idiot, as Lucy is yet to realise her feelings for Mike, we could wonder if it might not also be because Daisy has rudely pointed at the elephant in the room in Lucy and Mike’s relationship. Who’s to say?

(2021 edit -- The webtoon has this piece of dialogue changed. This time Daisy asks ‘Awww, are you both fighting still?’, which makes this even more pronounced that things aren’t all quite sunshine already. )

Finally, Daisy and Mike. Now that Lucy’s interaction with Daisy is done, Daisy is running around town looking for Mike, for whatever reason it just can’t wait until school. 

Ah love. I’m sure it won’t be a problem in the future, right? 

Mike is a real nice guy; lending Daisy his math workbook to Daisy.

We really need to look a bit deeper into this. We know much later in the story we that Daisy is well in advance of her peers in her studies. When she starts Roseville high, we find her in no more than two ahead of the others in her grade, with the juniors, and Tess.

And in the first few chapters of volume 1, we learn that Daisy often tutors Mike, so there’s no way Daisy even needs that book.

Unless...

O---Oh. It wasn’t for Math after all.

We’d come to learn that boy troubles are generally the source for all of Daisy’s grief. We’ll find that Daisy’s crazed obsession over Mike is used to justify a lot of the actions she’ll take in the future and we don’t know how bad this is until the much later volumes. Volume one step over this lightly as just a girl wanting her crush’ affection. But it becomes more pronounced in the much later volumes, especially when Abbey makes a point out of it when Daisy is less inhibited to keep her real feelings secret after getting drunk off Alcohol at Rachel’s party in a very late chapter.

Getting back to the current chapter, Lucy will notice that Mike eventually did find Mike, but she’s not with him. So maybe that was all she really wanted.

We’d be saps for thinking that.

But without anything concrete, we can only presume that was it. So thanks for returning Mike’s book, Daisy.

Daisy appears again in Merry Snow Day, the following chapter. This is a very short chapter where the kids are going to school after Lucy (begrudgingly) accepts schools not out, and walks with Mike to school. Daisy appears not long after and the first order of the day is to talk about homework, including offering to tutor him. She’d do anything if it meant helping her fellow students.

It’s at this part we’re introduced to the subtle idea of the rivalry for Mike’s affection between Daisy and Lucy. It’s subtle since it’s very one-sided and Lucy and Daisy don’t directly interact with one another or show that they’re fighting. Their interactions for most of the early chapters happen through Mike like you can see above when Lucy adds herself into the conversation. We’d have reason despite Lucy’s aloofness that such a rivalry does exist subconsciously and there are some reasons to believe this we’ll touch on. But for the moment, we can be sure that Lucy doesn’t consider Daisy a threat for one main reason: Mike will come back, so there’s no problem.

Daisy wouldn’t make a point of the rivalry either but Daisy would take advantage of the convenience of Lucy being out of the picture to seek attention from Mike, as she does when Lucy continues to school, and Daisy directly copies what happened just seconds ago when Lucy was about to fall on the ice, and Mike catches her.

Nice.

This chapter also introduces Yashy, Lucy’s pet Lizard and her surrogate daughter into the story line. The earlier chapters of Bittersweet Candy Bowl are ripe with slap-stick humour, and Yashy is the general source of this with her outspokenness and wise-ass personality. She’s there to rile up the others and break all the ice with her innocent demeanour. This will be the case up until the kids go to Highschool when the comedy starts being turned down in place of focusing on the rifts coming between the kids.

Unlike the other pets, Yashy is integral to the plot involving Lucy and Mike’s relationship, as she’s partly the reason for the friendship going on as long as it has. Having known Yashy for as long as Lucy, Mike takes on the role of the surrogate dad in Yashy’s life and this ends up having Yashy taking on the belief that Mike and Lucy are an established couple. But this isn’t true, and it plagues Mike as this is anything further than the truth. But with Yashy’s innocence, he can’t find the means to break this to her.

Yashy’s insistence of Mike and Lucy’s eventual destiny of being husband and wife comes at Daisy’s expense, as despite Lucy not necessarily seeing reason to stop Daisy’s attempts at trying for seek Mike’s affection, it’s Yashy who perceives her as a real threat and will shout obscenities at her when she doesn’t get her way, with a particular choice of word in mind. Though it doesn’t stop Daisy. But we can’t help but wonder much later if those words Yashy chooses to throw don’t have some kind of an effect on her much later.

That completes this chapter. Daisy doesn’t have much of an impact in Unfit for Education, appearing more to just be a participant in Sue’s obsessive thoughts game. But she gets a larger role to play in the following chapter; Burden of Parenthood. 

This chapter has the kids going through sex ed. and being given the responsibility of raising a robotic baby, which they will be graded on based on their performance. This chapter starts off quite unexpectedly, as when the teacher begins pairing off the students, Yashy’s expectations that Michael and Lucy will be paired together, doesn’t actually happen for a change.

This time, Daisy is paired up with Mike, and Lucy is paired up with Paulo.

As you could guess, Yashy isn’t thrilled in the least bit. But neither is Lucy particularly when she spots Paulo pleased at the results himself.

Again I still don’t think Yashy’s abuse is really doing much for Daisy, I can’t help but wonder what that will do for her self-esteem?

Oh, I bet she’ll be fine, she’s like a Daisy, remember?

It’s during lunch we find Daisy is positively happy with the result when she confronts Mike with their baby. Although there’s just one problem. The baby is a glaring defect, a very...interesting feature about it that has Mike freaking out.

And he’s not playing ball because of it. Even Lucy is having a hard time with the baby’s smile.

But Daisy, Daisy couldn’t care; it’s Mike’s child.

The Daisy x Mike compatibility really doesn’t take off as Mike wants absolutely nothing to do with the newly-named Alegria, which Daisy is quick to point out after keenly watching a maternally-skilled Lucy teach a very clumsy Paulo how to properly hold a child, something she learned when raising Yashy. Daisy is by all means entranced by the romantic exchange.

But where’s hers?

Trying to get Mike jealous by thrusting her baby in Paulo’s arms, and Paulo taking to the baby. Mike sees his chance and gets Lucy to ditch the two and work as a team again.

There is a momentary issue when the teacher discovers the pairs do not have their correctly assigned baby, and through a quick suggestion they were giving a realistic portrayal of divorce and custody, get extra marks on their assignments.

You’d think Daisy would be quite depressed with her chance to work with Mike not going the way she planned and the opportunity going out the window. But to receive additional credit on their work, she’s actually more than ecstatic at the results!

It’s fine, there’ll be more chances. There’s still 4 more years of school!

And in the meantime, Daisy x Paulo was born. One would have to wonder if it would bear fruits.

...Nah.

Daisy has a role to play in the next chapter; Prom Preparation. She’s tasked with organising the 8th grade prom.

The first order of the day is to survey the music selection for the evening, starting with genres. Daisy gets ideas from a number of the students, almost forgetting she hadn’t asked Mike yet.

Apparently Mike doesn’t have a favourite genre of music that comes to mind. Not being a fan of new music, Daisy fills the gap and suggests he’s into much older stuff which she tries to bond over, infuriating Yashy. 

When Daisy asks Lucy for her favourite music genre. Lucy wonders why she should bother since she’s not planning on going. . .

Leaving Mikie easy pickings for the evening. Daisy sees her chance for a bit of romance that evening, and Yashy is not at all pleased about this.

It’s worth talking about Yashy at this point, as even though we’re technically focusing on Daisy, there’s something we might be able to gain from both Yashy and Lucy that might give more insight into Daisy and Lucy’s relationship. You might notice, (2021 -- Especially in the Webtoons version), during each outburst by Yashy we can see Lucy blushing as her child unleashes hell upon Daisy, and we’d have to wonder why that is, because Lucy doesn’t seem to be initially the kind of person to care too much about anything going on around them, right?

But what if Yashy was this mouthpiece of Lucy’s impulsive thoughts that she doesn’t act on, and that’s why Lucy appears to blush from embarrassment? Yashy’s impulses are not something she’s able to control, only her own through her own inhibitions. Later in the story we start seeing hints that Lucy’s stonewall-straight faced demeanour is very much a facade and she’s actually quite sensitive, but when she’s fighting her emotions inside and she doesn’t have the answer, a blank expression is all you get so she can’t be hurt in one way or another.

But having been raised by Lucy, we could assume that Yashy is very much Lucy’s child and we can expect that having been raised by Lucy, much like every other kid out there, sometimes kids pick up traits from their parents.

(2021 -- The problem of Yashy’s language was also bought up in the more recent chapter, Dinner time, when Lucy’s mum points this out as Lucy and Jordan are fighting. While the person who was called out for this was Jordan. Can’t help but think that despite Jordan pointing out something embarrassing about why Mike might not be over more, Lucy is instead more blushing over the problem with Yashy, as Yashy is still embarrassed at being called out over it too. It’s hard to imagine the problem is just Jordan as Lucy has quite opinionated language as well, and lastly, because Yashy spends more of her time with her. There’s just an awful lot of body language going on in that scene and it’s hard to tell.)

Yashy is quite innocent in the story as she is one of the fewer characters who meets with rejection and doesn’t undergo the same hardships that Lucy underwent in her youth, so where this language and outspokenness has come from, you’d have to wonder if it’s just a quirk, or something deeper at this stage. Like as if Yashy is actually Lucy without the inhibitions.

Daisy doesn’t back down from Yashy when the golden opportunity arises even despite the name-calling. It’s when Mike believes both girls are fighting over him for Lucy to set the record straight -- she isn’t; Yashy and Daisy were and makes a point out of it. This causes Mike to walk off embarrassed since Lucy doesn’t reciprocate the same feelings. It’s only a little later towards the end when Daisy is turned down along with several other girls who learn of Mike’s availability. That ends that chapter. No romance for Daisy.

The next chapter is Helping hands, this chapter stars Daisy and Paulo who appear to have become closer friends since their pairing together in Burden of Parenthood. The chapter begins with Daisy and Paulo walking through the street, with Daisy talking about how Katie had a sleep-over the previous weekend but wasn’t invited, she was sure she must have misplaced it.

Though why missing out on Katie’s sleepover is the highlight of Daisy’s weekend is anyone’s best guess, right?

Daisy screams out suddenly as she points out an injured bird on the road, appearing heartbroken at the events. Paulo points out an arriving car that is about to put it out of its misery causing Daisy to become further distraught by this. At the very last minute, Paulo saves the bird, almost putting his own life in danger.

Expecting her to be elated, Daisy is not at all pleased in Paulo’s recklessness and scolds him, before being otherwise thankful he did it to save the bird.

But the next question is, now what?

With a hospital being too far away, Daisy suggests instead to take it to Lucy’s house as a last resort. Bringing up Paulo’s crush however, garners a reaction from Paulo that, well. . . Daisy’s not to pleased at seeing.

Oh, we’re going to see more of that. 

Daisy thinks about whether or not Lucy would end up adopting the bird as she has quite a number of pets herself. Daisy would herself although her mother wouldn’t allow it.

Suggesting Paulo could with how well Paulo did at looking after Alegria, Paulo finds the talk far too embarrassing for his ever-masculine personality. Daisy tries to persuade him that girls are into boys who can be shown to have a caring attitude. Sadly, Paulo thinks he’s already at this level.

Oh, how Paulo x Daisy is teased so.

The weather starts to take a turn for the worst and threatens to rain down much to Daisy’s horror, as we learn something interesting about how her fur reacts to the rain. Paulo tries not not to give this away but Daisy then realises and starts showing how self conscious she is about her fur, a fact we learn more of in an intermission, where Daisy spends quite a number of hours brushing it down. When Daisy asks whether he’s grossed out by her curls, he avoids the question by telling them they have to hurry, or the bird won’t make it!

Unfortunately for Daisy, Paulo isn’t the last person when they arrive at Lucy’s house. Leaving the bird in her care, Daisy immediately runs into the bathroom only to run into Mike, it’s an absolute nightmare scenario.

Feeling devastated, Paulo comes in with some saving words and tells her if Mike was really worth her time, he’d wouldn’t care no matter how she looked. Which does wonders for her esteem.

Lucy arrives down shortly thereafter and lets the two know the bird will make it, having only been attacked by another creature and not so much struck by a car. Lucy will nurse it until its better, much to the joy of Daisy and Paulo.

At that point, the conversation switches as that matter is taken care of. Noticing that Mike is at Lucy’s house studying with her. Daisy tries to invite herself to stay over and help out too.

It turns out, simply asking means you’re outstaying your hospitality.

Yeah, they’re not really tight friends are they?

On the Monday, Daisy and Paulo ask Lucy about the bird, first mistaking what Lucy says meaning that the bird passed away, it healed over the weekend and left the following day.

But not before giving them a gift.

After all, they’d need it for their baby. The bird seems to think they’d make a good couple. Ah, PauloxDaisy again. If only they both felt that way about each other.

Daisy appears in show and tell, in this chapter we are introduced to the specific breeds the characters are.

Naturally, Yashy is not at all pleased about Daisy when she arrives.

When it comes to Daisy’s turn, we find she’s Selkirk Rex cross Ragamuffin.

Which would explain a lot of Daisy’s features, Selkirk and Ragamuffins are both very people-oriented and akin to Teddy Bears. Both breeds can get along with nearly everybody.

And, well that’s true for Daisy.

Daisy appears in Pep Rally, a chapter focusing on the sports carnival. Daisy appears as one of the school’s cheerleaders next to Amaya, Stacy, and her rival, Katie, who is not at all happy that she’s not the captain. Daisy is not about to give up being the center of attention.

This chapter has more to do with Mike’s super sensitive hearing than anything else. Even so, Daisy is more than capable of being able to amp up the crowd, especially when Mike lands a win.

Daisy appears in the next chapter ‘Off to the Movies’, when Mike invites Lucy to the movies, only for Paulo, David and Daisy to show up at the same time and suggest they all go see a movie together (Lucy reluctantly agreeing). When it comes to selecting their preferences for movies, Daisy goes for the mushiest movie that’s available. Paulo and David wanting horror, Mike wanting comedy and Lucy. . .well, she wants to see a love story. It seems like they all can’t decide, but Lucy chooses the jack of all trades movie as a compromise; the ‘epic suspensful, romance thriller with lots of jokes’.

Win-win, right?

Daisy’s in heaven when the seating arrangements are chosen, right next to her crush, she couldn’t be more optimistic.

A number of things happen during the movie, but nothing got by Daisy when the movie ends as she notices Paulo on the brink of tears following its conclusion. Daisy offers to forget that she ever saw it, on the condition he explains his phobia to barking, something else that happened earlier when Paulo tried to steal David’s popcorn. 

Predictably, Paulo is far too masculine to talk about his feelings.

Eventually Paulo balks to the peer pressure (from Daisy) and explains what happened. When the others make fun of Paulo over it, Daisy leaps to his defense and tells them off. There’s a lovely moment between the two as Daisy reassures Paulo that she appreciates his forwardness and openness to the things that bothers him. And Paulo decides to talk about everything.

The PauloxDaisy content just keeps coming.

But it’ll never work. I--I swear it won’t.

By the very end, the kids all say their farewells to each other and go their separate ways.

Daisy appears in the next chapter ‘Puppy Love’. Mike finds a love letter in his locker from a secret admirer (It’s Stacy). Mike chastises Lucy who finds the whole thing hilarious and reads the poem aloud. Mike wants to find the person responsible. Suddenly, and out from nowhere, Daisy appears suggesting they do some detective work, all in the name of romance. But Mike reveals he just simply wants to reject them.

With much similarity to Prom Night, this chapter is more to point out with how much of the school has an interest in dating Mike. It’s not just Daisy, but also Sue, Amaya, Katie, those three random girls. The only exception is dear old Lucy. 

The next chapter is Confrontation. This chapter opens with Mike and Lucy doing what they do best when something unfortunate happens; they argue, with Lucy blaming Mike for having them miss their stop. Daisy begs Paulo to get them to stop, and they do, albiet, for a short few seconds before they start arguing again.

With no sign of it ending, Daisy and Paulo day-dream of a better alternate reality where they both get their desires. Mike and Lucy are just awful for each other. Things would work out better if it was just Mike and Daisy, and Paulo and Lucy, Just think of the romance. What could go wrong?

The kids get off at the next station which unfortunately for them turns out to be a bad idea as they end up in the roughest neighbourhood a few towns over from Roseville. With Lucy suggesting they find a phone to call their parents, they go out in search of an open store. With Mike and Lucy still at each other’s throats, Daisy tries to take advantage of the situtation by suggesting that Mike could in fact stay over at her place seeing as how late it was, especially if his house is a bit too far. hoping that Lucy having been quite bitter to him will cause him to think about coming around to her advances. But Mike rejects her advance. When Daisy becomes fed up enough to suggest he’d go to Lucy’s house despite their fighting, he agrees it likely would happen, frustrating her even more.

She loses her temper, exploding about Mike and Lucy’s friendship being just horrible and suggests any investment would never be returns. Prompting a reaction from Mike for a short moment, until Mike twists that around and tells her to stop chasing the same stupid feelings, walking ahead and leaving Daisy to sulk to herself.

She’s joined shortly after when Paulo’s escapade in trying to woo Lucy goes as well as anyone would expect. Daisy, frustrated in how Mike always seems to show some compromise with Lucy, argues with him over his bad taste in women too.

Daisy’s thorns are on full display here as she starts to openly show her resentment towards Lucy who has it all so easy with both Paulo and Mike due to her looks. Daisy’s frustrated that despite her best efforts to be more appealing in every other way; Lucy has the looks, and that’s all that matters.

With Daisy being too frustrated from being inhibited from displaying this side of her, it’s clear neither she nor Lucy are good friends at all. Daisy has shown such a low opinion of her because of her attitude, knowing full well that often times Mike gets beaten up by her. Lucy’s aloofness could be confused with disinterest and both of them suggest that Lucy wouldn’t really care if either of them suddenly caught alight.

But Mike overhears this thanks to his superhearing and tells them there’s more to her than what they know. But neither of them take the comment seriously.

Lucy also overhears, and is a little distraught at how the others think of her.

The kids find a bar and Sue manages to call ther mother to come pick them up. Problems arise when Mike takes on a dare to eat as many liqueur chocolates from a stranger, and is quite positively drunk out of his mind. Lucy comments on this having watched on and Daisy chastises her for letting him do it.

She might have wished she had done something about it, as Mike is all over her, uninhibited from telling her how he feels about her looks.

And that does nothing for Daisy who sucks at all the attention Lucy’s getting. The world’s just unfair.

Though, Mike notices Daisy’s state, and goes over to give her attention too. What would be a dream for Daisy is sadly shortlived, as Mike’s attention switches to ice-cream truck music, and suddenly takes off towards it.

The kids are find themselves backed into an alley, as the stranger who Mike took the bet from comes to get his money back. 

The ordeal is quite terrifying to Daisy. Paulo tries to defend her. But he gets a little too in over his head, not realising these two were the people who created his phobia of barking .

When Paulo is kicked aside, Daisy goes to him and asks if he knows the two. But Paulo doesn’t recognise them.

Not considering herself a fighter, Daisy is only able to come to her friends’ comfort as each one is assaulted one by one. Paulo first, then Sue when she cops an arm to the nose.

She can only watch when Mike tries to defend them, actually having some martial arts experience, but being too drunk to be effective.

And finally Lucy, as capable as she was finds herself unable to fend off Alejandro. Daisy calls out, but Lucy tells her to be quiet, or to hide as Lucy bears the brunt of the assault.

Mike regains consciousness at the very last moment and saves her before both team up in a last stand against Alejandro. Alejandro realises he’s bitten off more than he can chew and runs away. Daisy watches on as Lucy breaks down having realised how close they all were to having someone lose their life.

Sue’s mother arrives and all the kids are on their way back to Roseville. Paulo can’t help but notice that Daisy is really in the dumps over the night. Lucy did something completely unexpected in coming to their aid at the last minute  — the ever uncaring Lucy put herself on the line so no one else would get hurt. And she feels awful knowing she was wrong  — about Lucy and what she said about her to Mike.

Paulo tries to reassure her that Mike probably doesn’t remember what she said, and that turns out to be true as Mike is willing to accept her apology the next day.

Things are back to normal it seems, luckily for Daisy. 

Or are they?

-

I figure we’ll stop here and resume next week. Look at that! We covered 12 chapters of 127! There’s a lot more of Daisy to come!

[ningdungi]

fairy prince!yeonjun

this has been in my draft for so long since CYSM i decided to just post it...lengthy and messy because originally it was just a prompt :D also inspired by she-ra and the princesses of power lol i love that show

pairing: yeonjun x reader (fem)

genre: fantasy, a little angsty

summary: you got captured by yeonjun, the crown prince of the fairy kingdom in the magic forest

choi yeonjun, the crown prince of the fairy kingdom deep in the magic forest

the fairy kingdom has been one of the greatest protectors of the forest for thousands of years, along with other kingdoms in the magic island

the island being covered almost 1/3 by the forest, the fairy kingdom remains one of the biggest and strongest kingdom to ever exist

however, it is also not the friendliest kingdom as it is hidden deep in the forest to protect the ancient magic and stones

the foreign organization exploits the hell out of the island but never get to touch the forest as it is protected by magic and ancient spirit of the ecosystems

the leader of the evil interstellar organization wasn’t so dumb either, they waited for years preparing the best strategy to get what they want: the ancient magic and (said to be) stolen stones to combine with their crazy technology so they can conquer the universe

the leader of the evil interstellar organization wasn’t so dumb either, they waited for years preparing the best strategy to get what they want: the ancient magic and (said to be) stolen stones to combine with their crazy technology so they can conquer the universe

mistaken for a new kingdom, the evil organization is known for their evil sinister king. When rlly he’s just a capitalist asshole that only cares abt money and power... and his precious daughter—or what the locals call—the evil princess, you

he also has a younger son, prince taehyun, your half-brother, who happens to be a genius and good with technologies. But his father wanted him to be a warrior, not some nerd. So he’s never really fond of him :(

one day you grew tired of being seen as a delicate doll that needs protection, you’re a trained warrior that’s always at least on the top 3 in class. Plus you’re older than taehyun so you need to prove yourself to your father if you want to be force captain and to take the throne one day (yes i’ve been watching a lot of she-ra) but your father just couldn’t risk it

one day, the your kingdom poisoned the forest and unlike any previous failed attempt, this time it finally worked

the day the invasion occurred, you sneaked out of the evil kingdom to join the force that your half-brother co-lead... i mean, you have lots of knowledge about the history and ecosystem of the magic forest, thanks to the help of your best friend, healer elf prince!soobin, whose kingdom had been corrupted by your father (but he still hangs around bc they did no harm to the elf kingdom, just taking over the whole region)

i mean, what could possibly go wrong?

well thee answer is: everything

you got captured IMMEDIATELY by the fairies

even better, you’re captured by the fairy prince!yeonjun himself. you were sneaking in the trees under the moon light, in the dark dark forest. and thats how you ended up being strangled by the prince himself and tied up with vines and thorns

you were in an awe the entire time bc you had no idea that the fairy prince would be this beautiful and ethereal. he just looks so... delicate and magical and soft, despite the fact that he almost choked you to death

you’ve just never seen any creature as beautiful as him, all glowing and sparkling softly under the moonlight

the glimmering luxurious pastel dress that he wore fits him perfectly, and the flower crown on his blonde locks made little butterflies fly upon him. His eyes cold but shines brightly, and everywhere he goes, he leaves trails of fairy dust and sparkles

but to your surprise, he’s kinda mean and short tempered. A frown never leaves his soft peachy lips

one look at you and he goes "... and what could the infamous little princess of the evil kingdom be doing in MY land? doing MEAN and EVIL stuff? hm??”

you’ve heard about the fairies not being the most friendly creature but you thhought they were just vicious, not sarcastic and seems angry all the time

and strangely enough, unlike other fairies, he didn’t have wings. And the flower crown on his blonde hair looked more like horns growing out of his head

he grew impatient from your lack of response but he couldn’t kill you yet, he needed you to get back at the evil kingdom

so he brought you to his kingdom—the kingdom’s prison, to be exact. But it’s just a beautiful chamber filled with wild plants and flowers and glowing fireflies underneath the moonlight, you were kinda confused when he said it’s a prison since the concept of prison that you grew up with is practically just a cold dark chamber of torture

“THIS is your PRISON? you sure you’re not taking me on a fairy date just now? to meet your pretty little fairy friends?” you said with a smug on your face, knowing that he wouldnt dare to intentionally hurt you, as he is a creature of natural protector despite his short temper

so you use this opportunity to annoy the hell out of him

“pretty flower crowns you got there” “btw where are your wings? aren’t all fairies supposed to have sparkly translucent wings?” “honestly i thought prisons are supposed to be a little more dark and intimidating you know, not like this pretty fairy garden”

you’d give him headache and the urge to use some forbidden magic curse on you but he didn’t because your corpse wouldn’t do any good

“these are HORNS! and not every fairy have the same physical features, stop stereotyping us! it’s disrespectful” he snapped

you were just complimenting him why is he always so cranky

i mean his horns look so beautiful they could easily be mistaken as a crown...

after gathering some information, you broke out of the prison with the help of the dying forest and weakening magic force

but you didn’t want to return just yet. you needed to gather more information as the forest started to heal

also you’re kinda lost your way back home lol

your father was FURIOUS, he blamed everyone for your abduction. even your little brother got enough beating for that

as days gone by, you feel like you’re getting closer to the secrets of the island, and also the fairy prince

and every encounter with him it’s just consist of a lot of bickering and sword fighting and being angry at each other

one time your faces were far too close to each other it made you let your guards down, but you snapped out of it quickly and proceed to strangle him

for some reason he never try to actually kill you and you never seem to get the right chance to kill him. it’s weird coming from you bc that’s literally what’s you’re trained for, to kill the prince. you still gotta prove yourself, remember?

but you’re getting used to each other’s presence so much that it became amusing for him

“wow (y/n) this is actually a fun date idea. I’m giving it a 4/10. could’ve been a solid 10 if you didn’t try to stab me in the ribs tho :/“ he said in the middle of a sword fight

one day you’re battling in some strange part in the forest, you were spying on him but got caught

but little did you know, it was one of the forest’s sacred sites. It’s filled with the strongest magic and ancient technology and guarded by forces you don’t know yet

you got struck by some ancient magic, resulting in some strange event to happen. which led you to be captured by the fairy prince yeonjun himself, again

you were kinda weak from the struck so most of the time he’s the one guarding you in the prison, keeping an eye on you and limiting your suspicious moves

so all you can do in the meantime is to either insult his annoyingly beautiful prison or annoy the prince himself

he always seems pissed and suspicious for no reason so it’s kinda fun to you

“are you in pain or something? did you get struck by some strange magic too? why are you always so mean and angry?? are you hurting somewhere ??"

“excuse YOU? am i supposed NOT TO ?? maybe i wouldn’t be so mean and angry all the time if the evil kingdom DON’T try to exploit the forest ALL THE TIME, every think of that? does that ring a bell? here's a hint: i’m talking about YOU, princess (y/n)” he’d roll his eyes, angrily walking in circles. kinda mad at his dad for making him guard you

i mean... there should be enough guards in this castle, right?

little did you know, the magic is actually weakening... leaving the royal bloods’ magic the only force that can protect the forest, for now

“for the hundreth time, i am NOT a princess! i’m a fucking warrior, so stop calling me that!” sometimes you get pissed for his sarcastic remarks and his attitudes in general too. also this time you’re not really feeling well after the struck

“whatever you say, my princess” he’d blow flower petals on your face before giving you a smirk, dancing away gracefully as he picks flowers and tuck them into his flower crown... dozens of flowers immediately grows back for every single flower he picks from the ground, what a sight

you’d blush and try to look away. he never used his magic and charms for this type of things, usually it’s just for some silly pranks or weak attempts temporary torture in the battlefield (bc using magic drains his energy quickly)... so why now? was he really using magic or was is it just you?

after so many encounters and chances of being alone together, you sure know how to get on each other’s nerves... and each other’s head

you were there for a couple days, it’s kinda weird that you didn’t try to escape

turned out you were kinda sick, the strange magic struck weakened your senses and abilities. but you didnt want to admit it nor let him know that you’re literally vulnerable right now

you were smart enough to use this opportunity to get close to him, telling lies about how pitiful your life’s been as a princess and how you just want to prove yourself to your father, you don’t even care about conquering the universe

he didn’t buy that at first, not until you told him about how the evil kingdom sees the forest. you’d say your father thinks the fairies are the bad guys bc they stole the stones from the ancestors of your father’s planet thousands of years ago and that they’re just trying to get it back to heal their dying planet

you didn’t lie at that part, it was true... at least for the invaders. that’s how he kinda get surprised he had to tell the fairies’ version of the story

turned out that it’s all just a misunderstanding between the two parties, but unlike yeonjun being the democratic soon-to-be leader that he is, you still want approval

which you can only get by killing the fairy crown prince yeonjun before his coronation

but jokes on you, you kinda have feelings for him too. you didnt even try to kill him when he fell asleep holding you in his arms... you’d always say to yourself that ‘it wasn’t the right time’ to kill him just yet

of course it wasn’t. there never was, and never will be. you love him, dumbass. even the moon shining upon you the two of you could easily tell

he’d start to tell you secrets... secrets of the forest, his ancestors and families, the kingdom, the magic island, everything

you knew the forest is dying, but what you didn’t know is that he never wanted to be king,, he doesn’t feel like he’s qualified to be one. hell, he doesn’t even have wings, and he’s got horns growing out of his head. no fairy king or queen written in history of the magic island to not have wings, ever

“but it’s not required, right? literally nobody said you’ve got to be born with wings in order to be a fairy king. it’s already in your blood, yeonjun.” you would reassure him as you lift his chin so you can clearly see his eyes... all shaky and scared

he’d kiss you and you swore you almost forgot about your personal mission of luring and getting him into your trap

he told you about when he was just a fairy child... other young fairies and forest creatures bullied him for having horns and no wings,, i mean... he’s a fairy after all. it’s actually really natural, it’s just unusual among the immature creatures

one day he ran away way too far out of the forest... to the giant thorned vine bushes that looked like a cavern... it was dark and scary, he’s never seen this part of the island before

he didn’t know that it’s an entrance to the darker side of the island, where your father landed the ship and invaded a whole region of natural resources and innocent creatures, including the elf kingdom

and then he met a little girl, holding a basket full of flowers and wild berries, with a messy flower crown made of wild flowers on her head. she approached him and asked him softly if he’s lost and why is he crying

he was scared at first because she’s dressed like human, but after a while he learned that she’s harmless. he told her he’s scared that one day he’s gonna turn into a monster bc of his growing horns

“horns? i thought these were a crown... a very peculiar one, i must admit. but didn’t you say you’re a prince? a prince is supposed to wear a crown, right?” the little girl said brightly

“here, let me tuck these flowers in between your hairs and horns... now it’s a flower crown! it’s always been a crown, but now you have flowers!” she would jump around happily, which made the little prince smiled a little too

the story kinda shocked you... could it be that...?

no, snap out of it! it’s not even important nor relevant to your current circumstances

but you never thought that the crown that he proudly wore all the time has been... a growing pain for him

speaking of pain, the part of your back that’s got struck by the strange magic the other day keeps hurting you, and that night it started to get worse, two vertical scars started to form, followed by black liquid running down from each one

“you’re hurt! why didn’t you tell me?” he snapped, his voice filled with worries and anger. maybe it’s because of the fact that black blood could only mean one thing... dark magic

he took care of you and looked after you all the time

and yet you’d still tell him lies... and giving him false hopes

“let’s run away, together... to somewhere far, somewhere safe, we can build our own forever...”

[allycryz]

Duende - Uri & Haurche :3

PG because Haurchefant makes innuendo, set during early Stormblood.

The first draft of this was super easy to get out. The edits were a little harder because Urianger’s voice is very different from mine, but a good challenge all the same!!

‘Tis expected of a Scion to battle as expertly as one might pen a treatise. Urianger schedules two ventures per day to hone his physical talents: a bracing run before dawn and a lengthy solo training session at dusk. For the latter, he takes to the rocky shore along the coast line. The precarious climb to his preferred spot (providing both privacy and space) is part of his regimen.

Urianger picks the times when visibility is low and most residents occupied. Small talk is not his wont, nor is he at ease with those not in his immediate circle. There is something about his unmasked, unhooded face that gives strangers tacit permission to approach.

His position and decorum dictate that he engage somewhat in chatter during his errands. The residents do not press overmuch, for which he is grateful. Still, the task fits him worse than the too-small aldgoat leather gloves Lyse gifted him on his last Nameday. (Except, those he could not put on as easily as he might a polite demeanor. They refused to go past the breadth of his palm.)

There are days when the convenience of sunrise and sunset for sundry reasons, prove incompatible with other needs such as visibility and safety.

The unexpected rain pours down as he wends his weary way up the cliffs. It sluices through his hair, running rivulets over his brow. For the dozenth time, he swipes at his face and squints against the onslaught.

His feet remember where to place, his hands where to grip for balance. These are his cliffs and his winding, narrow path. No one knows it better. Should that memory etched into his muscle fail, a fall here would not be deadly.

‘Twould be painful though, and impact his duties for the next few days. For that latter reason–above all–he takes longer than usual along the rain-slicked terrain. 

There, he thinks as he nears the safety of the plateau. Urianger blows out a soft breath of relief, relaxing muscles he has kept tense during the arduous journey. For this stretch he has always found it best to walk sideways, arms spread for balance. It has never been a treacherous spot, simply steep enough to warrant caution.

Today, treachery comes at last. He takes a step up the incline, shifts to lift the other foot. The slippery grass beneath his boots gives way and both feet shoot out from under him. He has enough presence of mind to throw his gravity forward rather than backwards.

The impact is unpleasant but survivable; naught but his palms and dignity scraped. Dirt and mud bespatter the front of his shorter training robe. The cotton garment ends below his knees, the boots just above. Thus the joints are spared injury besides a dull ache. He chooses an ignominious crawl up to the plateau rather than risk another fall by rising on the sodden incline.

The rain is not so courteous as to clean his garments. It does offer some reprieve as he turns his stinging palms up to the sky and rubs the rainwater against the creases of grime and grass.

Ah, well. Rain is uncommon enough that he should be glad when it comes. Should his comrades ever summon him to battle in such precipitation, he shall be well-prepared. Lord Haurchefant oft speaks of how training in winter climes these five years have better forged him for difficult conflict. (Urianger suspects it is not only snow and ice that stood in the knight’s way.)

He finds himself smiling, thinking of his new colleague. Though their base is near underground, ‘tis not wholly cut off from the outside world. Vents let in sunlight, rain can be heard pouring upon the streets. Like as not, Haurchefant put a kettle on soon as he perceived the change in weather. 

The Waking Sands are enchanted to remain a cool temperature. If the sun does return in full force, they shall not overheat drinking cocoa.

Befouled, bedraggled, and besodden; he returns to the outskirts of Vesper Bay. The twilight and the rain have not put off the residents. A knot of people gathers near the market stalls, the hum of their voices rising just above the thrum of rain upon roof and stone and sea. The citizens hold cloaks and hands over their head as shields, one has a parasol meant for sun and aesthetics. 

‘Tis a lovely pink one with expensive-seeming trim. A shame it is likely ruined.

The reason for their cluster becomes apparent. Lord Haurchefant is the focus upon which they circle, tallest among them save two other residents. His silvered head is bent to them as they harken to his low voice. This eve, he has garbed himself in a long scarlet coat over his usual apparel. ‘Tis the first time he has donned sleeves since his arrival.

 (For all the good it did me to be tempered by winter, his lordship had said. It does make me rather pitiful in a desert. I shall do my best to acclimate to Thanalan.) 

They all gaze upon him with utter rapture. It has ever been so, since his lordship’s residence began in the Waking Sands while Urianger’s comrades and Haurchefant’s love continued on to Gyr Abania. Their adoration is not due solely to his fair countenance or noble title, though both must aid the cause.

There is an...openness in him that beguiles all he meets. Urianger has witnessed the surliest residents and most peevish of vendors open like blossoms to the sun when Haurchefant turns the glory of his attention upon them. Such an unusual power he has seldom witnessed and never from so kind a soul as this knight.

There is no avoiding this throng, even would it not be unconscionably rude to avoid his guest. At least there is a smaller chance of strangers engaging him in conversation. Not with a beacon such as Haurchefant seizing their attention, both intentionally and involuntarily.

“-suppose he will be alright, he knows the land better than I.” He hears Haurchefant saying as he approaches. His noble brow is drawn down, his battle-sculpted arms folded. “But do let me know if you see him. No one expected this rainfall.”

Doth he….speak of me? Urianger wonders. As if attuned to his thoughts, his lordship turns his way. Surprise, then relief, and then rapture all pass across his handsome features.

“Urianger!” He exclaims. “Thank the Fury. I was worried–I know you favor treacherous paths,and with the dark and the rain…”

“I am well,” says Urianger. “Thy concern is much appreciated and noted. ‘Twould have been a perilous journey had I not been close acquainted with yon cliffs.”

Haurchefant steps towards him, gaze sweeping up and down. Lingering on his bare face, throat, and collar. “It seems it was perilous for your clothes. Let’s get you inside and taken care of, yes?”

One of the crowd smiles at Urianger. Mara, he recalls, the tall Hyur woman who hawks fruit.  “Well, we’re glad you’re alright, ser. I was just telling June that I worry when I see you go off in the dark.”

“Ah,” he says, trying to recall which is June. The baker. Yonder woman with the braids who oft gives thee extra tea biscuits. “Tis not my intent to cause worry. I am well versed in the land and how best to scale it.”

“Even knowing that, do be careful.” Mara gives an imperious nod. Others nod as well, their eyes on him and not the handsome knight.

He can only nod again, bearing and smile stiff. He does not recall all their names. It makes him feel the most ill-mannered of scoundrels. He sweeps into a bow towards them, hoping it goes to some measure in repaying their concerns. “I shall endeavor to have a care, my lady. Your solicitous care bringeth warmth into mine heart, ‘tis only right I do well by all gathered.”

She smiles and pats his arm. This seems a signal for all to disperse, more residents bestowing upon him pats and nods. It is a wholly alien experience, and he considers he may be lying at the bottom of the cliff in the midst of a delusion. Surely he is not dear to all these people with whom he barely speaks.

“Come friend,” Haurchefant says. “You need to get out of those wet clothes and have something warm in your belly.”

“Thou art just as sodden,” says Urianger. “Pray also attend to yourself. Thou shouldst not catch sick for mine sake.”

“Ah but I would have done so gladly if I had to save you today.” The knight’s smile is wide again, fair dazzling in its potency. Again, Urianger is astonished any resident would look at him with Haurchefant there. Do they not sense the charm radiating from his very core? “I do thank you, for arriving when you did. There are much better games we might play in the dark than hide and seek.”

Urianger near trips on the steps up to the door. Of course, Haurchefant is there to catch him, strong hands righting his balance and smoothing over his back. 

“I beg thine pardon,” says Urianger. Regretful that he has no mask or hood to hide the heat upon his cheeks. As Lord Haurchefant is cheeky himself to everyone, he is likely used to it. ‘Tis not the first time Urianger has witnessed or received innuendo delivered so warmly from this man. “Mayhap I used more energy than I surmised, during my exertions today.”

“Yes,” Haurchefant nods, opening the door. “All the more reason for you to come relax with me once you have cleaned up. I shall not have you burying yourself in work when you have earned respite.”

“For a little while,” says Urianger. He glances back at the streets, at the residents seeking shelter in houses and under awnings. At the way some of them look at them–at him. Relief and concern and warmth in their gazes. He frowns and cannot lose the change to his mien, even in the warmth and dry of the building.

Haurchefant pauses at the top of the stares, giving his shoulders a roll before beginning his descent. ‘Tis late and his friend is often tense in his upper body by the time supper comes. He will need help working the knots loose again. Perhaps Urianger might put off his tasks even further to repay Haurchefant’s worry and concern.

As to everyone else in Vesper Bay, he is at a loss on how to make recompense.

His friend reaches the door to their sanctum and turns back, looking up at Urianger still upon the landing. “Dear Urianger, what is the matter? That’s a rather pensive expression.”

“...I didst not realise the depth of their regard for mine person. Yon residents and I art not particularly close.” He shakes his head.

“Oh,” says Haurchefant, that entrancing smile returning to his mouth. “Do ask me an easier one next time.”

Facetiousness is not Haurchefant’s way. The ironic reply seems out of character. “Yes, I am aware the reasoning seems difficult to determine-”

“‘Tis not.” Haurchefant’s eyes crinkle with laughter. It does not sting–there is no malice in it. He doubts such a quality resides in the knight. “You are quite charming, even when cloaked. It inspires others to take interest in you.”

For the second time, Urianger says “I beg thine pardon? I am not given to using mine wiles-”

“No, no. We should all be in trouble should you do it apurpose. But you have a natural draw that leads people to want to know you. As you signal that is not what you want, they have kept their distance.”

It is an absurd supposition that Haurchefant says with all the conviction of his noble heart. So much does he seem to believe it; that Urianger wants to also trust it, if only for his friend’s sake. “I am...uncertain of the validity of thy premise. However, thy kindness and belief warms my heart. Wouldst that every man hath such a friend as you, my lord.”

At this, Haurchefant lets out a clear, ringing laugh. Again, there is no mockery in it. The sound is joyful and pleased, as seductive a sound as every part of the man. ‘Tis a wonder such a man as he thinks his draw is mirrored in Urianger.

“So I must endeavor to convince you of it, till you are no longer agreeing to humor me.” Haurchefant opens the door, shivering at the blast of magically cooled air upon his wet person. “Well, I look forward to the process. One could do far worse than spending an evening convincing a beautiful man of his charms.”

To that, Urianger has no answer. Nor does Haurchefant expect one. He winks and enters the Waking Sands, door closing behind him.

It occurs to him and the rapid beating of his heart, there is a reason he perceives Haurchefant as charming and beguiling and the one who everyone should desire. Projection has not been a key failing of his, but he has fallen prey to it before. And presently, it seems.

And Haurchefant is correct in one thing: there are far worse ways they might spend the evening. Perhaps Urianger shall put his work on hold tonight, to see the knight’s endeavor in full.

[dear-wormwoods]

may I ask for a style fanfic rec list? 🥺🥺🥺

I have a couple of requests for this and I’ve been thinking about how to respond, because to be honest, I very rarely read fic these days. And by ‘these days’ I mean like, since 2014. I always have things I intend to read, but then time goes by and I don’t get around to it. So nothing I’m going to rec is new and you’ve probably already read them fkjds.

Anyway, sorry to be predictable by just being like “read Hollycomb’s fics” but...

The Scenic Route - 116k words, should be rated E for the final two chapters (I literally have no idea why it’s rated T on AO3, it was definitely M when I first read it on ff.net years ago)

Summary: The boys embark on a six day road trip to California before separating for college. Cartman is a pain in the ass, Kenny has no future, Butters is in crisis, and Kyle doesn't know how he'll say goodbye to Stan.

Why you should read it: The yearning. This fic is written entirely in Kyle’s POV, and Holly does such a brilliant job of getting into his head and really capturing that feeling of already mourning a friendship/relationship before it’s even over and kind of intentionally setting the bridge on fire to make what is (seemingly) inevitable hurry along, as if that will make it hurt less (it doesn’t). The first six chapters, the actual road trip portion of the fic (where the T rating actually does apply), are where it is at its strongest, and Kyle’s gradual descent into panicky, angry desperation is painfully real. I can’t stress enough how in character everyone is, each retaining recognizable mannerisms and dynamics from canon while still clearly being grown people entering adulthood. There’s a reason this fic is THE Style fic. 

Leave the Pieces - 251k words, rated E (though that rating only represents a small portion of such a long fic)

Summary: Stan and Kyle meet as strangers in their mid-twenties, shocked to encounter someone else who can't remember the first ten years of his life. They form an instant connection, but only one person in South Park remembers them, and Kenny can't explain why they disappeared or why the rest of the town forgot them.

Why you should read it: It’s a lengthy epic with supernatural elements, a complicated plot that fits right into the show’s universe, and the kind of love that quite literally transcends time, space, and memory. I can’t explain it much further without giving away the plot, but this behemoth is gut wrenching and powerful. It is equal parts a story about Stan and Kyle finding each other as adults and falling in love despite not remembering who they are, or each other, and a deep exploration into Kenny’s character and his curse. Kenny is really the MVP of the story, despite it initially seeming like “just” a Style fic, and his relationship with Wendy is written beautifully and convincingly. One caveat, though: some parts of this fic... I’m not a fan of. I greatly dislike Cartman/Butters just as a concept, and there were times, particularly in the first half of the fic, where I almost quit reading because of their scenes. I also feel like this fic fell victim to fandom’s earlier tendency to mischaracterize Craig as borderline sociopathic (but in contrast, he’s absolutely perfect in Holly’s oneshot Other People’s Tupperware). However, I’m such a sucker for supernatural memory loss not being able to sever soul connections, and Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Wendy’s respective journeys more than make up for my reluctance to stomach Cartman/Butters or other comparatively minor issues. And honestly, everything does fall into place as the plot unfolds, so all I can say is... if you hit certain scenes and think ‘wtf IS this??’, just stick it out, the payoff is worth it, especially if you’re looking for high quality Kenny content.

Amalgamation - 78k words, rated T (but should be rated M imo, because there are sex scenes, though they aren’t very explicit, just intimate)

Summary: In 1862, Kyle's family is forced to move from New York to a tiny mining settlement at the foot of Pike's Peak in Colorado. Kyle is sixteen years old and miserable until he meets Stan, a fellow transplant who has been in town for three years. Their feelings for each other are shadowed by the town's haunted history, and for Kyle the local legends begin to feel more like real nightmares.

Why you should read it: I know ‘1860′s gold mining settlement AU’ doesn’t sound very fascinating, but it is. This is another one that’s written in Kyle’s POV and again Holly does a wonderful job of expressing his emotional turmoil, the guilt and shame he feels, his self-righteousness, and the depth of his love for Stan. Everyone is as they would be if the clock was turned back 150 years, made different by the time period and the demands of their circumstances but still obviously recognizable. The old-timey atmosphere and world-building are so seamless and never feels unrelatable. There are also supernatural/ghost/mystery themes in this one and the fear is palpable.

From the Queen of England to the Hounds of Hell - 170k words, rated E, includes major character death (aside from Kenny)

Summary: Ten years after the execution of Terrance and Phillip, the war with Canada has not ended. Stan and most of Kyle's friends are planning to join the army after high school graduation, bound to be drafted anyway. Kyle doesn't believe in the war, but he's not willing to let Stan go without him.

Why you should read it: This is.... a perfect fic, and I don’t say that lightly. It is quite possibly the ONLY perfect fic I have ever read, in any fandom. I can’t actually describe all the ways in which it’s perfect without giving the plot details away, but, God, if you commit to reading just one of the long-ass fics I’m reccing on this list, make it this one. Please. It honestly makes me mad that this one never got the same attention as like, The Scenic Route, or ‘Night School’ did, because it so deserves to be up there. Only Holly could take the concept of the fucking movie and turn it into a completely devastating, bittersweet, epic romance. There is no caveat here, no ‘I loved it except for this and this’, just thorough, soul-crushing perfection. Just... Kyle. God, Kyle. I can’t elaborate, my heart isn’t up to the task. This fic will haunt me for the rest of my life.

The Ascent of Stan - 32k words, rated E, though it is like 95% domestic fluff

Summary: Stan sells his small pest control company and Kyle thinks they should use some of the money to go to Hawaii, where he proceeds to grill Stan about the mid-life crisis that Stan claims he's not having while their kids frolic nearby.

Why you should read it: This one is everything a domestic fic should be. It basically just chronicles the events of a week-long vacation to Hawaii that nearly-40 Stan and Kyle take with their two kids. This one is written fully in Stan’s POV and it works so well... he’s exactly the kind of dad that I imagine he would be, doing his best to provide for and protect his family’s little bubble and resolving to be better than his father while quietly fighting the lingering shadow of his alcoholism and cynicism. There’s no real conflict in this one, just 30,000 words of a very typical family vacation: not exactly blissful, irritating at times, but ultimately the foundation for perfect memories. 

Never Change - 115k words, rated E

Summary: Thirteen years after his high school girlfriend's pregnancy upended his life, Stan is still in South Park, working with his partner Bebe as a local cop. They're in the process of investigating a series of possibly connected murders when FBI agent Kyle Broflovski returns to town and informs his old friend Stan that this is his investigation now.

Why you should read it: This is equal parts a murder mystery and a romance. It features exactly the kind of Stan/Kyle situation I hate to think about - a decade-long estrangement of their own making that comes to an abrupt end due to extenuating circumstances. It hurts because of how likely it is to happen that way, and it works especially well in this fic because of Stan’s reluctance to embrace his own bisexuality until he’s nearly 30 and Kyle’s tendency to put up walls to protect himself. Also, Bebe features prominently in this fic, which is always a huge bonus.  

Bonus Oneshot Rec:

The Reformation of Fart Boy - 7k words, unrated but probably T, just barely

Summary: Five times South Park has brought Kyle to the brink of sanity and Stan has brought him back.

Why you should read it: I love thinking about the ways in which canon-typical nonsense continues to impact the characters in the long term on a serious psychological level. Kyle has suffered a lot in canon and it’s obvious even in the show that it is gradually changing him and wearing him down, so I really love this fic for focusing on his responses to some of the more traumatic moments, as seen through Stan’s eyes. 

I feel sort of guilty only reccing one author for right now, because there are other fics out there that I liked and am planning on revisiting, but this post is long enough as it is. Chances are you’ve already read some or all of these, but they’re my favorites. I reread all of them while making this list, and they still hit me hard after all these years. 

[tiffanybluesclues]

@spncoldesthits please allow me to share with you the wild ride that I just took, revisiting my abandoned writing for the first time in years. I’ve just finished reading through the sparse draft of a coldest hits fic that I very much wish I’d finished three years ago.

As a refresher, this fic was an AU with fairy tale elements. It featured Thief Dean, Thief Sam, Princess Anna, Princess Hannah, and Prince Cas. Rowena and Ruby are witches, Henriksen is the lawman, and Bela is Bela. Angel siblings, Cas and Hannah are twins.

It was planned as a multiship fic with endgame Dean/Cas and individual chapters dedicated to several other Dean ships in explicit detail. I never got around to writing that explicit detail, and the excerpts below are maybe PG-13 at worse, but this post is probably going to be a hard pass for anyone who wants to avoid any of the pairings. Officially that’s Dean/Rowena, Dean/Bela, Dean/Victor, Dean/Anna, Dean/Hannah, Dean/Cas. 

Summary was:  “It’s not quite the Midas touch, but still: Dean is cursed; every fabric that he touches turns to pink lace. Only true love’s kiss can cure him. Or something like that. Kind of inconvenient for a thief who’s on the run. Even more inconvenient for a thief locked in the palace dungeon. Then again, maybe not.”  

Excerpts under the cut.

ONE CHAPTER WENT UP.

The published chapter 1 was about Dean and Rowena. Nothing new here if you already read what went up on AO3. Jump ahead to Bela for the “exclusive” content. :P

“You should consider it an honor. This is a variation on the gift granted to King Midas. You’re amongst royalty.” There was a slight upturn to her lips and it remained when she pressed them together. On anyone else, it might indicate someone holding in a laugh. On Rowena, it looked like an expression she’d set aside specifically for gloating.

“You don’t think you’re maybe overreacting a little bit here?” Dean spread his arms wide and dipped his head to gesture at his newly transformed attire. What had once been blue jeans, a black shirt, and green plaid over-shirt, now blended together in layers of baby pink lace. Even his black work-boots were drizzled in a pink lace overlay, strung together with pink lace laces.

&

“You insulted my choice of décor.” Rowena didn’t even look offended. She had an eyebrow raised now like she was attempting to teach manners to a naughty child.

“Look, I said sorry—” Dean started, but she interrupted him.

“You most certainly did not. As a matter of fact, you still haven’t.

”Dean sighed. “Okay. Fine. I’m sorry. I apologize.”

“You apologize for what?” Rowena was keeping up the scolding routine and Dean had to close his eyes and take a deep breath to stop himself from flinging a sarcastic remark at her. Don’t taunt the witch, don’t taunt the witch. He chanted to himself. If this is the kind of thing she did over a careless slight, he really didn’t want to find out what she’d do to him if he intentionally insulted her—especially with Sam still hiding out from the authorities one town over. Then again, maybe it was for the best that Sam didn’t see him like this.

“I apologize for making fun of your doilies.” Dean waved vaguely at the accents that had brought on all of this nonsense. “What do I know about decorations, right?”

“Indeed,” Rowena’s response was quick and sharp, free of the melodic false affection that her words had carried until that point. The change made Dean involuntarily flinch back and he was angry at himself for it. Frickin witches, man. Dean’s nostrils flared as he sneered at her. He was helpless and he knew it. It was times like this that he couldn’t stop himself; he did something aggressively stupid or he did something petty, sometimes a bit of both. Now, he stomped over to the couch tucked up against the front wall and slapped his palm against every throw pillow there before sitting on the couch itself and crossing his arms. He glared up at Rowena from atop the pink lace monstrosity.

Rowena inclined her head just slightly, only one side of her mouth curved up in a smirk now. The silence sat between them for a moment before she spoke. “It’s actually rather fetching, but you know, I do think I prefer things the way they were.”

With a waggle of her fingers, and a mumble of words that Dean didn’t think he would understand even if he could hear them clearly, Rowena changed the fabric of her couch and her pillows back, even as Dean remained sitting there clad in lace.

“So you can fix the curse.”

“Not quite.” Rowena didn’t look at Dean as she responded, instead raising her gaze to the ceiling in a mockery of someone playing coy.

“What do you mean ‘not quite’.” Anger was evident in the bite of Dean’s tone and the clench of his fists.

“I meeeeeeeaaann,” Rowena drew out the word as she turned her gaze back onto him, “Why sure, I can remedy the symptoms, should I choose, but an ailment is still an ailment.”

Rowena took two leisurely steps closer to the couch, drawing Dean’s attention briefly to her feet, but back up to her face when she stopped.

“A curse is still a curse.”

Two steps again. Dean watched her feet, watched her face, remained silent.

“And what would be the point of a curse if one could just casually remove it?”

Two steps.

Dean didn’t remove his attention from her face this time.

She smiled with teeth.

“But you needn’t worry. This curse is standard, as curses go. And it has a standard cure.”

“What’s the cure,” Dean didn’t hesitate to ask, but there was nothing eager in it. His voice was low and flat, experienced enough to know that he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“True love’s kiss, of course.”

“True love?” Dean scowled at her. “Bullshit. It doesn’t exist.”

Rowena laughed, full and bubbly. As far as Dean could tell, it was the first genuine emotion that Dean had seen from her this evening. “True love is a weakness, dear, of course it exists. Now, it may not last forever, and it may not be shared by both parties in just the same way, and it will probably happen between the most inconvenient people in the most inconvenient times, but it most certainly exists.”

“True love.” He felt like a parrot, but the very idea was ridiculous, possibly more ridiculous than the stupid curse itself. “A weakness and a cure.”

“That’s what the spell-book says…” Rowena trailed off.

“Does it?” Dean stood up and mimicked her two-steps-forward routine from earlier, which garnered her another one of those tiny smirks.

“I suppose more accurately it says ‘an intimate kiss from the one who is in the most awe and full of limitless adoration,’ but that is that not a bit wordy?”

Dean clenched his fists again and it drew Rowena’s eye.“

I must admit though, I am starting to see what you meant about the pink lace doilies. The fabric just looks ridiculous if one wants to appear intimidating,” Rowena shook her head in disapproval as she looked Dean over.

& then it gets pretty adult.

“This fabric, does it have the same effect when I’m wearing it as it has when you are?” Rowena clarified, “Does it make me less intimidating?”

The question alone made Dean’s throat feel suddenly tighter, he didn’t need to look her over to know the answer.

The swooping neckline of Rowena’s dress sat no lower than it had when it was made of royal blue velvet, but he didn’t have to lower his eyes to see that the broadly woven lace exposed more skin below her collar bone. Unlike his jeans, his boots, and the couch, Rowena’s dress had suffered the same fate as his t-shirt. The garment clung tightly in a single thin layer, stretched thinner where it pulled over muscles and curves.

&

“I think you’re lying,” Dean wanted to believe that she was lying, it was easier than if she were telling the truth. “I think you can fix this.”

“I said it before, and I meant it. The fix requires true love—or adoration of some sort—and you won’t find anything of that nature in this cottage…though you are welcome to try.”

In the end Dean left with a 10% discount on potions and an in-tact curse.

THE REST REMAINED UNFINISHED AND UNPUBLISHED.

But I just rediscovered all of these little portions I had for the unwritten chapters.

Jumping right in, I had some content drafted up for Dean and Bela.

“Alright, get it out of your system, say I look ridiculous.”

“That’s not…” Bela stopped herself mid-sentence, looked him up and down again, and then burst out laughing. “No, actually, that’s rather accurate. Ridiculous is exactly the word I’d use.”

Dean glared at her, but he couldn’t argue the point when she was simply agreeing with him.

Working with Bela was supposed to be a last resort, but in several short hours it had become his only viable course of action. She wasn’t going to be any help with the curse situation, but he and Sam did still need to get out of the kingdom where they were wanted men. Bela could help them with that at least.

He hadn’t even planned to see Bela before meeting up with Sam again, but he’d taken such a winding route to keep out of sight that she was now between him and his rendezvous point he’d agreed on with his brother. More importantly, she offered a place where he could duck inside and hide away from curious eyes come daylight.

He glanced down at himself again. At least his lace pants were thick enough and woven tightly enough that he couldn’t see the lace panties underneath. He could sure feel them though. 

After he explained his predicament, she directed him into the kitchen, where there were wooden chairs and tile floors and slightly less chance that she’d threaten to claw his eyes out for turning some expensive piece of furniture into a gaudy conversation piece. 

“So, now you’re off on a grand quest for true love and you came to me first? I’m flattered.”

& a scene with Dean, Bela, and Ruby which wasn’t really quotable but was apparently going to focus on...hand play.

There was clearly going to be a plot too though, because my outline for this chapter ends a totally plotty sentence.

He barely trusted Bela, he didn’t trust Ruby at all, but he was counting on them being decent enough to get his message to Sam since Dean had made it possible for them to get away.

& the same for a scene between Dean and Victor. I don’t even have any notes for how Dean and Victor end up in a scene together. Based on the final line that I wrote for the Bela and Ruby chapter I’m guessing he  It’s just a few snippets of dialogue and the important scene summary that I used when figuring out what AO3 tags I would need ( ”masturbation, exhibitionism, exhibitionist dean”).

“What the fuck?” Victor… [... I guess I never finished writing that sentence. ...]

“Yeah, sorry about that, if I were you I’d just let me go…”  

[... I also think something was supposed to go between these lines. ...]

Dean didn’t plan on jerking off while Victor watched, but you take what life throws at you.

& then Dean finally reunites with Sam and has to explain is predicament.

“So, let me get his straight. Instead of convincing the witch to help us flee the kingdom, you insulted her fashion choices and got cursed to turn things into pink lace?”

“Dude, she had a cauldron covered with a pink lace doily, tell me that’s not weird.”

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose.  

“We’re already wanted men throughout this entire region. It was hard enough trying to escape notice when we could be disguised.” Sam raised his arms, palms up and gestured at Dean. “That is kind of noticeable.”

Dean stiffly shrugged in a poor attempt at feigning nonchalance. “It’s not like everyone knows what happened. People don’t exactly associate Dean Winchester with baby pink lace.”

~*~

“Sonofabitch,” Dean snatched down the flyer from where it was tacked to an oak tree. How the hell did they update these things so fast? The drawings only depicted them from the waist up, but the way that Dean had been illustrated he looked like a damn cheesecake pinup with chest-hugging lace swirled over his body.

Sam sighed. “I told you.”

“Oh, well good for you,” Dean snapped, shoving the wanted poster into what had once been a green canvas duffel bag given to his father in the military. (Dean had thrown a fit when the bag transformed, morphing into a thickly woven pale pink lace, faded but surprisingly durable. That durability was the only saving grace because the bag still needed to hold most of their weapons and stolen loot. He had a feeling though that the bag he’d inherited from his father was gone forever.)

“Fuckin’ Henriksen,” Dean grumbled. 

~*~ 

“It doesn’t make sense. In the myth of King Midas, he’s able to wash his magic touch away. There was no true kiss involved, true kisses are associated with fairy tales.”

“Yeah, well he had a God, and we’ve got Rowena.” 

~*~ 

Dean was hiding in a copse of trees when he made his decision. They had to send Sam in alone to rent out rooms now. In some ways it was less risky, since the authorities were looking for two men traveling together. In other ways it was more risky because it meant more sneaking, a greater need to remain quiet, and it meant that Dean’s every entry and exit put them at risk.

This winter was warmer than usual, but wet nights outside were unbearable, especially when Dean could find no relief from thick flannel blankets or jackets. He’d ruined enough of their dwindling supplies over the first three days, eventually he stopped trying.

Next notes that I have jump ahead to Dean and Anna.

~*~

It was decent as far as dungeons go. It resembled the majority of small-town jails that Dean had seen in this region. The bars were wide enough apart that he could slip an entire thigh between them—a terrible design really, he and Sam had learned years ago that it meant destroying just a single bar could set them free. No one stood much chance at holding the Winchesters prisoner when a single metal cylinder stood between them and freedom. 

~*~ 

Anna shrugged, “I don’t have the key. It doesn’t matter what my priorities are…but for the record, no, I don’t have any great interest in keeping you locked up.”   

[... I have nothing written between these two paragraphs but obviously SOMETHING else needs to happen to get them from the previous sentence to the following result. ...]

Anna’s dress turned red. A rich coppery red, darker than the color of her hair, not just a rich pink, but a drastically different shade.  

“Maybe it means something. Everything I’ve touched has turned to pink until now.” 

“Maybe you’re getting closer to your true love.” 

~*~

Yes. Fuck yes. Dean was definitely into what was happening here. Kissing Anna felt passionate and natural, that was a good sign, right? He had no idea how long they’d been kissing, but he could gladly keep going. Absolutely a good sign there. She tasted like lemonade and her tongue was kind of short.

In the back of his mind, Dean thought that was cute for some reason.

At the forefront of his mind though, he noticed that Anna was rubbing her breasts against his chest--at least as much as she could without jamming a jail cell bar into her sternum.

& that escalates a bit with them basically banging through the bars until Castiel shows up and pries them apart.

& then we have a chapter about Dean and Hannah.

~*~

 Anna had another woman with her, a brunette with blue eyes. Both of them were carrying wash rags. It looked out of place against their delicate dresses.  

“I highly doubt that this man is my true love,” Hannah spoke to Anna while she looked at Dean. She frowned. 

[... I think something was supposed to go between these two lines here. ...]

Dean and Hannah pressed their lips together through the bars. It was an awkward closed-mouth thing that barely resembled a kiss. Anna and Sam simultaneously huffed in exasperation at the two of them.  

[... Same. ...]

“Technically…” Dean started, but wavered on whether he should even bother.

“What?” Hannah looked genuinely curious, so Dean decided to go for it.

“The cure is supposed to involve an intimate kiss, which…could mean a lot of things, depending on how you’re taking it.” 

“We might not have done enough,” Anna smiled up at him slyly, “Think of all the things that could be intimate kisses.”

Hannah looked between the two of them, unsure but thoughtful, “The language of curses and their cures can often be symbolic or poetic. A kiss may not mean a kiss…”

& then more explicit content and Hannah’s clothes turn to lacy lilac. So we’ve gone from everyone else’s clothes turning baby pink, to Anna’s turning a dark coppery red, to Hannah’s turning a light purple, so there’s clearly something special going on with the curse as it relates to that family line.

& then we have the final chapter, about Dean and Castiel.

Castiel unbuttoned his shirt and placed it on the bench. 

“You,” Castiel spoke as he continued to undress, “Are going to stay away from my siblings. I am going to discipline you for the liberties that you took. And you are going to be beaten far too severely to make any further advances.” 

[... There’s nothing between these two paragraphs but I feel like something was supposed to be here. Maybe some description. ...]

“I’m aware of your abilities. I have no intention of ruining my wardrobe. Turning things to lace, what an absurd power.” Stripped down to his white cotton boxers, Castiel moved to enter the cell.

“Is that a twin thing?” Dean asked and Castiel just tilted his head, looking confused, so Dean continued, “The white cotton undies. It’s cute. You two matched. Well, until I…you know.”

& there’s a few sentences after that, but past-me didn’t even start outlining a proper conclusion. Tsk tsk.

Anyway, thought that it would be fun to share some of my unpublished content that SPN Coldest Hits inspired. Might never see the light of day outside of this post, but if you’re one of the people who read the first chapter, then you now have a little glimpse into what was supposed to follow.

[ilovemygaydad]

punk!patton is adopted by single parent logan part 2/?

part one - part three - part four - part five - ao3 version - masterlist (includes asks)

pairings: eventual moxiety, eventual logince

warnings: swearing, lots of emotions, anxiety, worry, panic attack mentions, patton’s an asshole (both intentionally and not), a tiny bit of accidental ableism, hurt feelings, food mentions, possibly something else

***feel free to send me questions or comments! i’ll answer them to the best of my ability, and everything is tagged under “punk!patton au”

here we go babey

for the entirety of his week-long suspension from school, patton just contemplates these icky, weird feelings that he’s having

because he thought that he’d gotten rid of them, but the way that he tried to protect virgil obviously proves something different....

before that day, he’d never tried to protect anyone before

it was patton against the world through and through 

but then this... this boy in these pastel clothes shows up, and suddenly patton wants to protect him!

like what the fuck?!

he decides to pretend that these emotions don’t exist because feelings are too much fucking work

so he goes back to school like nothing happened

which goes totally fine because virgil doesn’t attempt to talk to him for the entirety of their first block

when the bell rings, however... virgil pretty much slams his hands on patton’s desk before he can get up, leaning in with stern expression twisting his normally soft features

(which is only accentuated by the still-fading black eye that virgil mostly covered up with concealer...)

“are you okay?”

and patton is just taken aback by how forward virgil is being--especially since he’s wearing a light blue skater skirt and gray long-sleeved crop top, which is not the epitome of sternness, and pat stutters out a shy “yeah” before virgil goes off on a tiny rant

“that’s good! i was really worried that you’d gotten in a ton of trouble with your dad for swearing at those parents, and i had no way to know if you were okay, so i kind of freaked out for the whole week. and, like, i’m really sorry that i got involved because it ended up getting everyone in super big trouble--especially you--and that kind of sucks. so, yeah, sorry.”

patton hadn’t been listening since the word “worried,” as he’d become entranced by virgil’s color-shifting lip gloss. he sees pinks and blues and purples as virgil talks, and he leans in just slightly to get a closer look

and it’s absolutely NOT because virgil’s lips look so pretty and soft pshhhhhh no

virgil notices that patton’s staring at him with furrowed brows, and he realizes that he’s looking at the lip gloss he’s wearing, and he sort of

freaks out...?

he flinches back and covers his mouth with his hands in one of his familiar bouts of self-doubt

“why are you staring at my lip gloss? does it look bad?” he rushes

and patton’s like

????????? what?????

no???????

and in an unexpected turn of truthfulness, patton says, “no, it looks really pretty.”

and for some reason, there’s a weird, fluttery feeling in patton’s chest when virgil takes his hands away from his face and smiles

[john mulaney voice] now we don’t have time to unpack all of that!

luckily enough, patton is saved from having to deal with the emotions when the warning bell for passing time rings, and both teenagers rush to scoop up their things and go to their next classes

even luckier, patton doesn’t have his next three classes with virgil, so he doesn’t have to think about his--gross--emotions

but then

lunch time rolls around

and patton hadn’t prepared for how absolutely fucking awful that mess would be!

as soon as he walks into the cafeteria, he’s accosted by so many noises and smells

he tries to leave, but the lunch monitor tells him that the kids aren’t allowed to leave once they enter until the end bell rings, which is such bullshit, but patton really doesn’t need another tick on his permanent record

clutching the brown bagged lunch in his fist, he scans the cafeteria for somewhere to sit and finds virgil sitting at an otherwise empty table near the trash cans

with a groan, patton makes his way over and plops himself across from virgil, who squeaks at the sudden companion and nearly drops his phone to the floor in surprise

“do you not have a lunch?” patton asks, choosing to ignore the fumble

“ah, no. i can’t eat the school lunches because i have celiac disease, so i usually just sit here on my phone”

with probably more force than necessary, patton tore the top off of his lunch bag and pulled out an apple, holding it out to virgil as he ordered, “eat it”

virgil hesitated for a second, but ultimately took the apple and bit into it, wincing as lip gloss got all over the skin

patton smiles gently and says a quick thanks to virgil before digging into his own lunch

they exchange a bit of banter, and all is going well and good until patton gets curious

“why do you dress like that?”

virgil freezes in his spot, and an emotion flashes on his face that patton deciphers just a few moments too late

“i--i’m sorry, i’ve got to go!” virgil mutters, leaving the half-eaten apple on the table and running from the cafeteria, ignoring the angered shouts of the lunch monitor

patton only spends a few seconds staring at the doors that virgil ran out of before he turns back to his lunch and shrugs. it’s not like he was really that into making friends at school. and he was already planning on sitting in the library for lunch

he didn’t care

he really didn’t

he didn’t!

patton pretends not to notice the fact that virgil’s name is called in several of his last few classes, but the quiet boy isn’t there

later that night after dinner, logan is sitting at the kitchen table grading some homework assignments from his first graders

“grading” being used very lightly. he was mostly looking to see if they actually followed the minimal instructions on their writing sheet

but then the doorbell rang, which was confusing for logan because he wasn’t expecting any visitors

he walks the few meters to the door and opens it

standing outside is a man in a slouchy hat and very... colorful clothes

“hi, are you logan summers?” the man asks in an odd accent that logan can’t place

“yes, and you are...?”

“roman sanders. my son, virgil, goes to the same school as patton”

and logan is internally going oh shit what the hell did patton do now

on the outside, he simply says “do you want to come in? it’s a bit chilly, and i’d rather not cause a draft.”

roman nods and steps inside, and logan closes the door. he leads his “guest” to the living room where they can talk in comfort.

“did patton do something to virgil?” logan blurted out as soon as they were seated

“sorry, can you repeat that? you were talking too fast for me to read your lips.” roman gave a lighthearted laugh and took off his hat to reveal a mess of brown hair that didn’t quite cover the bright red hearing aids that wrapped around his ears

which would explain why his speech was different. he couldn’t actually hear what the sounds were supposed to be like

logan felt like an idiot

“my apologies. i just asked if patton did something to upset virgil. he isn’t the most... gentle person.”

roman’s smile turns to a grimace “virgil called me in the middle of the day to ask me to pick him up from school. i was lucky enough that all of my patients had scheduled for the morning, and i was able to get to the school without feeling guilty about cancelling someone’s session last minute. when i got to the school, virgil was sobbing. virgil likes wearing gender non-conforming clothing, and apparently patton asked why he liked to dress the way he did, and it spooked the poor kid. i was hoping to clear some things up so virgil would feel better.” (roman is a therapist)

logan

well

he was kinda pissed

patton of all people shouldn’t be judging others for dressing against the norm, since he did the exact same thing!

he quickly excused himself and dragged (figuratively, though he would have resorted to fireman carrying the teenager if he’d refused) patton to the living room to talk to roman

introductions happened blah blah blah and roman asks what patton did to upset virgil

and patton’s like “i was curious about his clothing style????”

roman kind of just narrows his eyes at patton and says “i want to know exactly what you asked before i make an assumption on what to do. words can trigger emotional responses depending on the person, especially with added influence of tone.”

logan will never admit that he’s surprised at how intelligent this man is

and how he’s a little bit attracted to him

and patton being patton said, “i just asked, ‘why do you dress like that’ and he got all upset! it’s not my fault he got offended by my curiosity”

logan pinches the bridge of his nose, and roman pulls out his phone

“we’re calling virgil, and you’re going to apologize to him”

roman starts a facetime call with virgil, and signs “hey, starlight! i have someone here who wants to talk to you.”

virgil both audibly says and signs “who?”

it sounds like he’d been crying

roman turns the phone so that it’s facing patton, who just crosses his arms and turns his face so that he doesn’t have to see virgil

“patton,” logan says in his Dad Voice. “apologize”

and then patton glances at the screen and sees virgil’s red nose and the tear tracks down his cheeks and how bad virgil looks, and he breaks

his voice is quiet and shy as he says “i’m really sorry for upsetting you. i was just curious as to why you chose such a unique style in an often unforgiving environment. i should have worded my question better”

patton peeks over at virgil, who seems to contemplate the apology for a few seconds before saying “i forgive you” with the tiniest baby smile that makes patton’s heart melt

and they both kind of seem to forget their dads are there until the phone is turned back to roman, who took the smiles and not speaking as a cue to take the call back

“i love you” he signs to virgil

“love you too,” virgil says (and presumably signs) “but please don’t hunt down every person who hurts me and do this. you’re lucky that i didn’t catch you, dad, because i would have kicked your ass before you would have left the house”

roman smiles, and patton lets out a surprised laugh because he didn’t think that someone as cute as virgil could physically swear

“dad, can you give the phone over to patton and let me talk to him in private for a few minutes?”

roman hands the phone over and follows logan into the next room (where logan definitely isn’t eavesdropping and relaying all of the information to roman)

“so,” virgil starts as soon as patton gives him an all clear “i wanted to explain to you why i dress the way i do even though it’s really simple: i just like the soft fabrics and colors. they make me feel much happier than when i tried to fit in with the other kids by wearing hypermasculine clothing.”

“that’s valid,” patton says because he doesn’t really know what else to say

“why do you dress in all dark colors and edgy clothing?”

patton hadn’t thought about virgil reversing the question on him, but he feels compelled to answer

so he does

he talks about his life at the orphanage and how he shut himself off from the world. he knew that people didn’t like him for his emotions, so he just tried storing most of them away and pushing others out of his personal space. he lashed out so easily because he was lonely but didn’t know how to properly express his emotions

and by the end of the explanation, virgil is a little teary, and he says “patton, you are far more lovable than you think. i’m sorry that the world told you otherwise”

and now patton is crying a bit, and they kind of just sit there for a second and take in their emotions

for once, patton doesn’t try to mash them down

the parents come in a few minutes later when the kids calmed down, and roman took his leave, but patton doesn’t forget to say goodbye to virgil first

and he’s actually kind of looking forward to seeing virgil the next day, even though he won’t admit it

to be continued in.... PART THREE

okay so here’s the thing fam... so many of you asked to be tagged that i don’t know if i’m going to be able to fit everyone. literally. SO if your name isn’t on here, or you notice someone whose name isn’t on here that asked, i’m sorry, but i literally can’t do anything about it. it will take me years to tag everyone even with infinite tags. the amount of love this has received is great, but i am human

tag list: @residentanchor @eeveeawesome @xionical @absolutesandersidestrash @stormcrawler75 @musikasworld @ironwoman359 @a-weirdo-with-a-computer @thegaypotatoroyalty707 @darkrainbow333 @ravenclawunicorn1 @noahlovescoffee @whymustibedraggedintofandomhell @romansleftshoulderpad @still-waiting-for-cookies @emounicorn2006 @lana--22 @angels-ofthe-sea @demonickittykat @lonelysoul43 @the-virgil-mary @five-second-cookies @noisywolfbatbakery @band-be-boss-blog @heck-im-lost @lamp-calm-sanders @patton-e @knightofbloodcancer @cloudchaser7 @really-sleep-deprived-nerd @era-eclipsed @khadij-al-kubra @anxiousmorality @are-you-really-sure-about-that @today-only-happens-once @notalwaysthevillian @backatthebein @sunshineandteddybears @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @emo-sanders-sides-loving-unicorn @dodos-in-damnation @some-lost-meme-boi @dead4sevenyears @spookyingarbageisland @the-poison-apple-of-art @radioactivehelena @the-melody-of-eliza @im-a-mess-aaaaaa @whycantihavemorethan32characters 

[svtmatokis]

Jihoon Office AUP5

And Finally part 5!

Plot: You and Seungcheol have been best friends forever and as a favor, you agree to be temporary assistant of the one Lee 

Words: 3240

Warnings: not really smut but use of smut words...

Part 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

“You called Jihoon? Also, I called Mr. Hiyongs assistant and was told that he was currently on business in the States and won’t be returning for about a month. I’ve set the earliest meeting he has for when he returns.” Hiyong said as she walked into his office. You could feel her stare as she sat down in the chair in front of his desk while you stayed in your leaning position on his side. The air got tense as she watched Jihoon actions with you. His hand was still resting on your hand that was on your leg and by the grip he had on it, he wasn’t going to let go anytime soon. 

“I’d like to introduce you to Y/N. She was your replacement while you were away and will be briefing you on what you’ve missed and what needs to be completed.” Jihoon said completely ignoring the comment about Yoongi and looked at you for you to begin but before you could, Hiyong cut in. 

“I’m sure I can figure it out. I don’t think I really need an explanation to catch up.” Hiyong said dismissively. 

“There’s nothing for you to catch up on” Jihoon stated catching Hiyong off guard, “Y/N finished the work you left behind before you left on top of the work load she had throughout her time here. I’ve asked her to implement new systems that will help me keep track of your progress as well as anything that falls through the cracks. Now if you will Y/N.” 

You didn’t like Hiyong, you could tell that she was someone who was used to getting her way and lacked discipline. Something Jihoons assistant had to have in order to meet his standards. It was a wonder as to why he kept her but you would ask him about it later. Right now, you had someone to set in their place. 

Walking to the other side of Jihoon where his computer sat, you nudged his arm to put in the password which he did so willingly and going as far as to get up and offer you his chair so he could stand behind you to observe. 

“Don’t hesitate to be blunt” he whispered and you turned to look at him. 

“Like pull a you?” you asked with a raised eyebrow and he gave you one of those looks. “Don’t worry Mr. Lee, you have obviously never seen me work” and you heard Hiyong scoff and mutter to herself. 

“Who does this girl think she is?” 

“So I guess we should start with the report preparation” you said opening a file, “As you can see, many things have been refiled and renamed.  When I got here it took me ages to find one precedent and sometimes we don’t have all that time. Jihoon could suddenly get something urgent and will require it right away but with the way it was organized, it took you almost one afternoon to complete the prep right?” You asked and Hiyong looked down before you continued onto a few other things including the email list, filters and the biggest thing labeling. 

All the while Jihoon was impressed with the way you were handling things. You talked to her like a manager and not just someone who had come in to do her job temporarily. He watched how Hiyong only paid half attention to the things you were saying and hoped that she remembered enough to at least be efficient and mess things up. 

“And what was wrong with my way of organizing things?” Hiyong asked, “I liked having everything out in the open so I could see it. It was easier for me to find things and why does it matter on how things are labeled? I’m the only one who sees it anyways.”

“No you aren’t.” You stated bluntly, “you’re forgetting thar Seungcheol is Jihoons boss and a lot of these things go to him for final review. How do you think the inconsistency would reflect on Jihoons leadership? He’s also one of the busiest managers here, naming one thing on this day and differently the next would confuse the heck out of him. He doesn’t have that time to go through things like that Hiyong. As his assistant, you should be working to the standard he expects. Not the standard that you THINK he expects.” You finished and you could hear Jihoon snicker from behind as you went to the last thing which was his schedule.

“I’ve organized Jihoons schedule for the next three weeks accordingly. I’m not sure why you decided to have ten different calendars for different things. It’s called colour coding and obviously Jihoon doesn’t have the time to open ten different calendar just to see what he has for the day.” You explained and thought for a moment and looked up at Jihoon, “honestly thinking about it now, I could just take care of your scheduling for you.. It’s not like I wont know anything you’re up to anyways unless you intentionally want to keep it from me and you aren’t that kind of guy.”

“I’m not” Jihoon confirmed, “but would you be able to handle it on top of the impending workload you’re bound to have?” He asked and you shrugged. 

“You know I like challenges” you responded with a grin and Jihoon nodded while you looked at Hiyong, “it’ll be one less thing you’ll have to deal with on top of your tedious workload”

Jihoon had hold in his chuckle at your last sarcastic comment and looked at Hiyong, “then it’s settled. Y/N will have full control of my schedule from here on out. Y/N, you can remove the schedule from Hiyongs shared network.”

“But how will I know what reports you need for your meetings then? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for me to have a copy of his schedule as well?” Hiyong asked, she was starting to feel a strong dislike for you. How dare you talk to her like that and why wasn’t Jihoon saying anything to defend her?

“Jihoon has a task list that he updates everyone in a while. As long as you follow that and have it completed by the noted due date, you shouldn’t have an issue.” you explained. “Jihoon will be monitoring it all from the system so he can adjust the work load accordingly. I’m also around if you need help with anything.”

You then looked up at Jihoon as he looked at the computer screen impressed with what you had organized. 

“Then it looks like everythings good to go then.” he said, “You can return to your station now Hiyong and please start on the task list and have them completed by their respective due dates.” and then looked at you with a smile, “And let’s get you settled into your new role.” 

“Can that wait till after lunch Ji?” Seungcheol asked walking into the room, “I need to borrow Y/N for a bit.” 

“You guys just had breakfast together.” Jihoon argued.

“So? I’m your boss and she technically can’t say no to me.” Seungcheol said with a grin. .”Let’s go Y/N”

You looked between Jihoon glares and Seungcheols grin and giggled before grabbing your bag.

“I’ll be back in a bit, Ji!” you then followed Seungcheol out of the room and left Jihoon to sigh in defeat.

He sat himself at his desk and started to look at the new intern list you left him the week before while taking a sip of coffee that you had brought him when you walked in with Seungcheol. 

‘Yep, definitely wifey material.”  he smiled at the thought. It had only been twenty-four hours since your relationship officially began but he eventually admitted to himself that he’d been attracted to you from Day 1 and it took him three weeks to act on his feelings (with a lot of push from the other managers) but could he really see you as his wife? 

As Jihoon got lost in his thoughts, Hiyong watched him from her position at her desk and frowned. Who were you to JIhoon and why was he so comfortable with someone that was his assistant while she was gone?  She saw a smile grace his features as he drank his coffee and furrowed her brows. 

During her time away, she had found out valuable information regarding JIhoon and learned why he had such a high standard attitude, She was determined to prove herself to him upon her return but didn’t expect someone new in Jihoons life that he took to so easily.

After about an hour of contemplating, she decided to go ask Jihoon himself in hopes that he would give her an answer she wanted to hear. 

She knocked softly on his door making him look up with a disinterested look on his face. 

“Yes Hiyong?” 

“Sorry to bother you Jihoon...but I just wanted to ask you a question…” she started and saw him nod his head urging her to continue. “I-is Y/N going to stay on as one of your assistants?” she asked and Jihoon stared at her blankly.

“We just hired Y/N for the manager position we posted a few months back, she’s going to be working in my office for training until or if we get her office set up.” Jihoon answered, “Anything else?” 

“Is...is she your girlfriend?” Hiyong tried making JIhoon frown. 

“I dont think thats any of your business Hiyong. Please get back to work,I need that draft list by 4pm today so you better get on it.” he stated before looking back at his computer while he let his thoughts drift off to you again. Should he tell you or should he wait till he knows he’s ready and knows for sure? 

The end of the day came quickly soon you were packing up your bag to leave while Jihoon started his shut down process. 

“What do you want for dinner today?” he asked casually and you shrugged.

“Anything’s fine.” you said absentmindedly. 

“Jajangmyeon it is” JIhoon said with a fist pump and looked at you from the corner of his eye.

“Okay.” you said and felt Jihoon grab your hand. He noticed that something was off with you when you had come back from your meeting with Seungcheol and had been meaning to ask you about it but never had the chance to since Hiyong kept coming back to the office to ask him questions.

“Hey…” he said pulling you to him so you were standing between his legs. “Is everything okay?” 

Your eyes analyzed him and you thought back to your conversation with Seungcheol earlier that day.

(Earlier that day)

“My men saw Yoongi in the States. I think he’s looking for your parents.” Seungcheol said and you looked up at him with shock.

“Why would he be looking for my parents?” you asked, “You don’t think…” 

“If your parents sign the contract, it’d be the same thing as you signing in. That’s what I found stupid about that thing.” Seungcheol said, “What if Yoongi makes up a story about the two of you being together and convinces them to sign it?” 

Your face paled immediately, ‘That son of a….’

“Y/N?” Seungcheols voice rang out and you looked at him with a wide eyes, “Is everything okay?”

“Theres something you need to know and you have make SURE Yoongi never makes contact with my parents.” you said firmly, “He has the proof he needs to convince them…”

“What how?” Seungcheol asked shocked and you showed him your phone and there in a message from Yoongi was a picture of the two of you but a lot younger at an event where his arms were wrapped around your waist from behind. The smiles on your faces were undeniable and Seungcheols jaw dropped.

“What the heck is this?” Seungcheol asked incredulously, “You and Yoongi?” 

“The bastard cheated on me three years into grad school. My grandfather was so close to getting what he wanted because Yoongi showed me that he could change but it went all down hill when I walked into his apartment after class one day to see him and a girl from my economics class with his dick in her mouth.” you told him and shook your head. “I ran away after that and changed all my contact information so he couldn’t find me.” 

“Thats why you came back…” Seungcheol said and you nodded.

“He runs most of his family’s corporations outside of Asia so moving back here made the most sense. I wondered how long it would take him to find me.” you whispered.

“Does Jihoon know?” Seungcheol asked and you gave him a pointed look.

“Obviously not...I don’t even know how to bring it up.” you muttered, “And if things go Yoongi’s way, I’ll be married off in the next six months.” 

“Things won’t go Yoongi’s way as long as you tell Jihoon.” Seungcheol said, “Trust me on this. Next to me, Jihoon is the only other person that can help you and he has a greater chance too.”

“And why is that?” you asked crossing your arms.

“Because Jihoon’s fathers the CFO of this company. Hasn’t he told you?” 

You shook your head, “Lee’s Financial Group is in partnership with your company?” 

“Duh...that’s why I trust Jihoon more than anybody here. Talk to him about your past and in turn he’ll be able to help you even if he hasn’t realized it yet.” Seungcheol said, “It’s the only way we can beat Yoongi.” 

You looked at Seungcheols serious face for a moment and noted that he hadn’t been this serious in a very long time. You had no idea that Jihoon’s family was almost if not more powerful than the Mins and thought that Seungcheols family had hired him based on his talent alone.

“What if JIhoon has something else in mind?” you asked, “We’ve literally just started the whole dating thing.”

“And I’ve never seen him so serious about a relationship before.” Seungcheol said, “He’s never taken a day off work till he met you Y/N. It’s like you made him human or something but I can see just from his actions. He’s serious about you and I doubt he’d ever want to let you go.” 

“I hope that’s the case then...but six months…” you said looking down and Seungcheol chuckled.

“Everyones betting that he’s going to propose in three - five. You’ll be fine...you just can’t mess it up and that’s why I’m saying tell him about Yoongi, sooner than later.” Seungcheol advised and you nodded your head.

(End Flashback)

“I’ll tell you when we get home.” you whispered thinking about the consequences and whether or not Jihoon would still be in your life after this conversation. You closed your eyes as you felt the tears build up and only heard Jihoon whisper.

“Okay.” 

The drive was tense, Jihoon could tell something was up with you and it put him on edge too. The moment you stepped into the house, Jihoon had taken your arm and pulled you to the couch. He wanted to know what was going on with you.

“What’s going on?” he asked, “You’ve been different ever since you came back from that meeting with Seungcheol. What happened?”

Instead of replying to him, you asked him instead, “How do you feel about me?” 

The question caught Jihoon off guard. “You know how I feel about you.” Jihoon said taking your hand in his, “Y/N, you’re scaring me. What did Seungcheol say?” 

“Why didn’t you tell me that you were one of the sons of Lee Financial?” you asked and JIhoon froze. 

“I-” Jihoon started but you had cut him off, why did Seungcheol have to open his big mouth?

“But then again, I haven’t been completely honest with you either.... And now I’m scared you’re going to hate me…” you whispered.

“What? What do you mean Y/N?” Jihoon asked slightly shocked as red flags went off in his head.

You handed him your phone and showed him the picture from Yoongi.

“What the heck…” Jihoon whispered analyzing the photo to confirm it wasn’t photoshopped or anything of that sort.  “Y/N...did you and Yoongi…” 

“It’s been close to five years since our break up.” you whispered and opened up to Jihoon about your full past with Yoongi. 

Somewhere during the conversation Jihoon had to get up and walk around to contain his anger. He could not believe that Yoongi had the audacity to cheat on you. He obviously couldn’t see the person you were and felt bad for you.

“And that’s pretty much it...it’s not that I didn’t want to tell you...but if Yoongi meets my parents, he can use it was proof..” you finished and looked up at JIhoon who was looking out the window with his arms crossed. “Ji..?” 

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” he asked not turning around to look at you. “I thought he was just some random…” 

“I never thought he’d use this tactic…” you whispered looking down, “Look, I’ll just go pack a bag and stay at Cheols for the night or something…” you said getting up but Jihoon’s caught your wrist and pulled you into his chest.

“Do you want to be free of  Min Yoongi?” he asked as he rested his head on top of yours and felt you nod. “Will you do whatever it takes?” 

You nodded again. 

“Then will you promise to stay with me forever?” he asked and felt you tense under him. He was about to pull away but you held his shirt and placed a kiss over his heart before nodding and he felt the warmth of the kiss spread through his heart. 

“Then I’ll get you out.” he whispered kissing the top of your head and held you as close to him as he could. He would get you out, as long as you stayed by his side, he would do anything for you.

After a few seconds you pulled away to look up at him and his lips met yours in a kiss. It was different from your previous kisses where he kissed you just because he could. This time, it was slow, passionate and full of promises.

The two of you walked slowly towards your bedroom with your lips attached.

A few hours later, Jihoon woke up to weight on his chest and smiled when he saw your head resting on his heart. Leaning down to kiss the top of your head, he slowly got out of bed and found his boxers which had someone ended up on your lamp. He started to get up when your voice stopped him.

“Where are you going?” you asked tiredly starting to wake up when you noticed the bed lift.

“I’m going to get some water.” he whispered tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, “Go back to sleep.” 

“Will you come back?” you asked and Jihoon smiled happy at your request.

“I’ll come back.” he said leaning down to capture your lips in a soft kiss before he got up and made his way to the kitchen.

Jihoon ran his hand through his hair as he thought about the events that went on in the last few hours and he grinned to himself. ‘Definitely wifey material’