#it's like looking at a mirror and realising you are able to tackle some stuff through a character even when you refuse to do so irl

[fangswbenefits]

just a few random thoughts on The Arrangement Astarion (cw: mentions of past abuse and trauma)

The way abuse can warp someone for life is often overlooked. This isn't just a journey about him dealing with intimacy (in all its forms) but also how to do it in spite of everything he went through. Putting up walls and not letting her in, but feeling the need to resort to sarcasm and to being snarky cause the vulnerability that comes with it is just too much to handle. She has already seen the ugly yet he keeps doing it, because when you've doing it for so long it becomes second nature and it's hard to unlearn this behaviour. How can people stay when they've seen the ugly? Well, some people do stay because they have seen the ugly and their love for you surpasses that. They'd ve damned if they allowed that to change their opinion of you.

However, this doesn't have be a life sentence for him. He can learn and better himself alongside her if he so chooses. There will be good days. There will be bad days. But the constant will be her by his side. And this isn't about anyone getting fixed. There are other ways to heal. Are those healthy, though? But still, no matter how uncertain things are, he can count on her love as a constant that can help him love the parts of him that he has grown to hate.

Is it easy? Does it happen overnight? Probably not. But there's always hope. There is always a way out. Even when he dissociates. Even when he's fearful of getting more intimate with her. Even when he remembers that she chose friendship over something else - it's never easy to be shown what you need to see instead of what you want to see. Astarion falls into this constant dichotomy and I think it's worth exploring 🫂

[fanficshiddles]

Triple Threat, Chapter 1 (Sequel to Trust)

Summary: Darcy and Loki were enjoying their life, still annoying the Avengers. But one day, Loki from another timeline appears. After causing some mischief, he tells them that Jane is compromised with the aether. And he needs their help.

Now Darcy not only has TWO Loki’s to deal with, but also a deranged and tortured Jane who’s much more powerful than she should be.

But they have to find her first.

Darcy was late. Ohhh so late.

She ran as fast as she could out of the compound with her bag over her shoulder, Thor, Tony, Natasha, Bruce and Loki were waiting at the Bifrost site.

‘Sorry! I’m sorry! I couldn’t find my contacts and got up late.’ She said out of breath as she slammed into Loki’s side, he slipped his arm around her waist to steady her.

It had been almost six months since Loki and Darcy realised they couldn’t love anyone else. Although, whilst they tried going on proper dates together, they found it wasn’t really them. The whole romance thing.

The Avengers didn’t really know what to make of them both. Loki and Darcy didn’t like it when they were called boyfriend and girlfriend, and to the team they were just like they were before. Mischievous and a bit annoying. But the team knew that no one else would get a look in at either of them now, that was for sure.

Did Darcy love Loki? Yes, she did. She wouldn’t ever hesitate to say she did. And Loki felt the same. They already had a strong foundation built together. Had they added very regular sex to the mix? Hell yes! Did Loki want to kill every man that even just looked at Darcy in a flirtatious way? Of course!

But they were comfortable and happy with what they were. Whatever it was.

‘You’re late.’ Loki drawled.

‘Well, someone failed to wake me up!’ She looked up at him, narrowing her eyes.

‘I’m not your alarm clock, it’s not my duty to wake you.’

‘It is when you’re the reason I was up most of the night. I was walking like John Wayne when I got up. It would’ve been polite to at least wake me.’ She huffed.

‘Eww. Too much information!’ Tony said as he pulled a face.

Loki just looked very smug.

‘Exciting night, huh?’ Natasha smirked at Darcy.

‘Hell yeah!’ Darcy grinned.

Loki chuckled and squeezed Darcy’s side, just as Thor called for Heimdall to open the Bifrost. Whisking them all up to Asgard.

Asgard and Midgard were working together, sharing science and technology. Tony and Bruce were able to take their inventions to completely new levels, while Asgard learned a thing or two from the scientist mortals.

So trips to the golden city were quite regular. Darcy went along whenever Loki went. Frigga was always so happy to see her, even Odin was starting to warm up to her, too. He was also trying with Loki, attempting to make amends for not being a great father. Loki didn’t make it easy, but Darcy kept telling him off and told him to try and at least be civil.

When they arrived, horses were waiting for them on the Bifrost. Tony and Bruce couldn’t get used to riding the horses, they were worse than Darcy had been her first time. They stuck to a very slow walk and took forever. Natasha was a natural rider, which didn’t surprise Darcy or Loki.

Darcy ended up having a favourite horse, a lovely grey mare, she was a gentle giant. Loki always helped her up, often flinging her too far so she would fall off the other side. That would usually end up with Darcy withholding sex for a day or two.

Luckily, he didn’t do that this time. He winked at her as he got onto his horse and the two went galloping ahead as normal. Thor and Natasha raced up after them with Tony and Bruce slowly lagging behind.

‘Hey, Birger! How’s it going?’ Darcy asked when they reached the stables and Birger was on duty just outside.

‘Good morning, Darcy.’ He took hold of the reins for her while she dismounted. ‘You’re getting better at riding, I see.’ He grinned.

‘Yeah it’s getting easier. Soon I’ll be bale to beat this one’s ass.’ She smirked and motioned to Loki who came up beside her.

Loki poked her side playfully. ‘Unlikely.’

‘You never know, My Prince. This mare is one of the fastest in the stables.’ Birger laughed.

Loki narrowed his eyes at Birger and then Darcy. ‘You’re turning Birger to the dark side. Stop!’ Loki put his hand over Darcy’s face with a chuckle.

Birger took Darcy and Loki’s horses from them, just as Thor and Natasha caught up with them. They knew the other two would take forever, so the four of them went inside and headed straight for the banquet hall.

Sif and the warriors three were there. They were pleased to see everyone, more so Thor. But Sif had a soft spot for Darcy, they got along well after they first met when Darcy and Loki visited for a week. Sif was secretly giving Darcy some fighting lessons, she wanted to surprise Loki.

Darcy had remembered when Jane told her about Sif, how she seemed stuck up and rather snippy with her. But Darcy had a feeling it was because Sif had a crush on Thor. So of course she would have been jealous of Jane.

‘Where’s the science dudes?’ Sif asked as everyone sat down to eat.

‘Probably still halfway across the Bifrost.’ Loki smirked.

‘Perhaps we should get them a carriage next time. Or take one of the ships.’ Thor suggested with a mouthful.

‘What are they hoping to achieve this trip anyway?’ Darcy asked as she filled her plate up with various meat and vegetables. She LOVED the food on Asgard.

‘Weren’t you listening in class?’ Loki rumbled, raising his eyebrow at her with a playful smile.

‘I was probably too busy staring at your ass.’ She shrugged.

Loki laughed while the others rolled their eyes.

‘I believe they’re hoping to finally get some of the magic from the healers into some kind of containment, so they can take it back home and study it properly. Change into something we can use. It would help speed up healing so much.’ Natasha said.

‘At least she listens in class.’ Loki teased Darcy, who then proceeded to stick her tongue out at him.

‘So childish.’ Loki tutted at her.

By the time Bruce and Tony joined them, the rest of them had stuffed themselves full and went to their chambers to get unpacked.

‘I’m gonna hang out with Sif while you are doing science with the others.’ Darcy said to Loki once they were sorted in his chambers. She was tying her hair up in a bun at the mirror.

Loki walked over to her and slipped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head as he looked at her in the mirror.

‘What do you two get up to together? Hmm?’ He asked.

‘Girl stuff.’ Darcy shrugged.

Loki raised an eyebrow, not entirely convinced. But he took her to meet Sif before heading off to the healer’s room himself to meet Natasha, Tony and Bruce.

As soon as Loki was out of sight, Sif took Darcy outside to the training area. She kitted her out with some basic armour, a shield and a sword.

‘Have you been practising the steps?’ Sif asked as she took out her own sword.

‘Yep. Well, whenever Loki is out of the way.’

‘Have you heard from Jane lately?’ Sif asked when they started doing some simple blocking moves, Darcy was able to step away and use the sword or shield to block any attacks from Sif.

‘Nope, nothing. It’s like she’s just vanished off the face of the earth.’ Darcy sighed.

‘Weird. I thought she was in love with Thor, she always seemed head over heels for him when they visited. Have you asked Heimdall to check in on her?’

‘Nah. She was such a bitch towards me and Loki ever since I was kidnapped by him in the first place. It’s up to her to come to me, if she wants to make amends.’ Darcy then took a jab towards Sif, surprising the female warrior and hitting her chest armour. But she was impressed.

‘Ohh, sneaky. You’ve been practising more than just your steps.’ She grinned.

‘Sure have!’ Darcy said triumphantly.

‘When are you going to show Loki your new skills?’

‘Tomorrow. I want to surprise him by asking him to teach me some moves. Speaking of which, can we work on tackling? I want to try taking him down.’ Darcy said as she stopped to catch her breath for a moment.

Sif laughed and put her arm around Darcy’s shoulders. ‘You really think you’ll be able to knock Loki down?’

Darcy shrugged. ‘I’m hoping the element of surprise will help me.’

‘Good luck with that. Loki is the champ of deception and he is NOT easy to take down, even though he doesn’t look very strong.’ Sif said.

‘Tell me about it. He can lift me with ease with one arm, uses me for weightlifting practice.’ Darcy huffed.

‘Sounds just like the old Loki really is back.’ Sif laughed.

‘Did he hang out with you guys when you were little?’ Darcy asked, they took a seat on a bench for a while to chat.

‘Not often. He was more into books and his magic. A bit of a loner. But I guess we didn’t help the fact by teasing and making fun of him, he was Thor’s little brother, that’s how we saw him. I feel bad now, knowing about his true heritage and everything he’s been through. But there were times his mischievousness shone through and he would join in sometimes.’

Darcy nodded. ‘He did tell me that he struggled because you would all fight with brute strength more than anything. While he prefers more skilled combat, using his magic and tricks.’

‘He is a highly skilled sorcerer, always has been after Frigga’s teachings. I think in a way, we were probably more intimidated by his skills than anything, which likely made things worse. There aren’t many people like him out there.’

‘There certainly isn’t. Which is probably a good thing, one Loki is enough to deal with.’ Darcy laughed and hopped back up to her feet. ‘Come on, let’s fight!’

-

That night, Darcy was getting ready for bed.

‘Hey, Loks. Can you poof me up my toothbrush? I forgot to pack it.’ She said as she rummaged through her bag.

‘Already in the bathroom.’ Loki said, he was in bed already, reading a book.

When Darcy headed into the bathroom, she smiled as she saw it was indeed there. Next to Loki’s in a little cup by the sink.

‘I used it to clean the toilet when we arrived.’ He called through to her when she started brushing her teeth.

Darcy popped her head round the door to look at him, brush sticking out of her mouth. ‘Yeah? Well I used yours to clean my ass. So guess that makes us even!’ She grinned and disappeared to the sink again.

Loki rolled his eyes and chuckled. ‘You can be so disgusting sometimes.’ He said loud enough for her to hear.

‘Right back at you!’ She shouted through.

He had just put his book down when Darcy came through to join him in bed. She jumped on top of him, he chuckled and let out a fake oomph.

‘Have you put on a little weight?’ He asked as he poked her sides.

‘Hey! That’s not a very nice way of flirting.’ Darcy scowled at him.

Loki smirked and ran his hands up and down her upper arms, squeezing her biceps. ‘You’ve got more muscles…’ He hummed. ‘Why have I not noticed this?’

Darcy rolled off him to the side. ‘Maybe because you’re too focused on other aspects of my body.’ She grinned and started un-buttoning her pyjama top, hoping to quickly get his mind off her new muscles.

‘Mmm… indeed.’ Loki purred and rolled on top of her.

[smallcrystals]

TRANS MAN TIMBER PLSSSSS I NEED THIS SERATONIN

AND SERATONIN YOU WILL GET

so for some context for this headcanon: timber is afab, his family is from south asian descent, and his parents died when he was around ten

and this is LONG so buckle up !!!

timber was brought up knowing the general idea of a boy and a girl but he didn't really understand why he had to stick to one if he didn't feel like it. his parents tended to avoid the topic of gender and sexuality as a whole so he didn't have much to go by. he confined his thoughts of feeling more like a guy with gloriosa and she made sure he didn't face any queer discrimination from anyone to keep him safe

after their parents died, timber was kind of free to consume more diverse content since he had no one else to tell him not to, so he was pretty accepting of being gay and trans at a young age, reading books he asked gloriosa to get for him

he had to grow up fast so he ended up reading a lot of young adult at 12-13 (since there was more likely gonna be gay/trans ppl in those compared to books for his age)

despite not having a lot of trans rep, he had the internet due to his homeschooling. he was able to research a lot more abt being trans so he'd be more educated and helpful towards them (he sometimes brushed off the feeling of relating too hard to trans men, thinking he was just a really hardcore tomboy)

he realised he found himself attracted to girls and had various crushes but bc of the fact he felt like a boy, he mixed that up with attraction to boys (which he always 'had' since he thought he was a cishet girl at one point). but he still found boys cute and wanted to kiss them so :]

timber liked helping out at the camp a lot with wood and stuff since their dad at the time was the only "man" in the house. his dad didn't think anything of it and was just glad someone could help him out for once, so that continued on after they passed

timber preferred keeping his hair short since it got annoying bc of the curls. he kept it shoulder length until after his parents passed, then he asked gloriosa to cut it even shorter to the hairstyle he has now. my boy cried when he looked at himself in the mirror

it was around 14 where he realised he may be a boy and not a girl when his body started developing. he never got any bottom dysphoria so periods were never a massive thing for him (he just found them annoying) but he didn't like having boobs 😭

gloriosa managed to get T for him as a surprise one day and timber. like. SOBBED

she helps him take it when necessary until he got the hang of it himself and it just very helpful :(

timber noticed how much stronger he was getting after a few weeks on T and he got so excited. he was already strong beforehand so man just got stronger

he binds until he can get surgery which he gets at 18 (so yes in loe he is binding :>)

but it's actually rlly annoying bc man develops double d cups and is like . WHEN CAN I GET RID OF THESE THEY SUCK so he ends up only binding during camp sessions and doesn't when there aren't any campers at everfree

present day timber when someone comments rudely abt why he got top surgery and not bottom: LISTEN I JUST DIDN'T WANT FEMALE DOUBLE D BOOBS ON MY BODY IS THAT SO BAD???

he realised he liked people regardless of gender so he ids as pan! he's never really found a label for himself until he realised he's trans (he's known pre-loe)

he comes out to twilight after she tells him she's bi, so he comes out as pan and trans (a lot more nervous abt the trans bit but she's completely supportive abt it!!)

twilight gladfully reminds timber to take his hormones bc man forgets sometimes 😔 makes a timetable and everything and timber is just..... head in hands

this is my friend maisa's hc but i had to put it in here bc it's so cute:

timber is. so funny when ppl ask him invasive questions like it's none of your business !!!!

"whoa dude youre stronger than me and i'm the real man here" "oh what if i break your real man nose and kick you in the real man nuts then what"

timber gets top surgery done and it goes well!! since he's got a lot of muscle, he wanted his chest to fit that and it looks great in his opinion, he's very happy !!!

timber still likes wearing skirts occasionally and he pulls them off so well. he and flash went skirt shopping once

he lets rarity put make up on him at a time and he occasionally decks up

ppl ask him why he still wears feminine stuff and short answer is "i look better in it than you :)" but rlly, it doesn't give him dysphoria! timber doesn't personally associate his sex with his gender and doesn't feel like he needs to present the way society expects him too. he just does what he does to feel comfortable and doesn't give a shit what anyone else thinks!

timber goes to rarity to get some of his ethnic clothes styled in a little more feminine way (backless salwar for example) and just gets super giddy when he wears it

mehndi (henna) is typically for girls so he wore it as a child during eid and stuff but he didn't stop as he transitioned and always goes to gloriosa to get it done bc she does it really nicely

gloriosa tells him whenever he feels down that she's very proud of him and how far he's come and she'll always be there for him no matter what :(

timber's T ends up messing w his period so sometimes it does come, sometimes it doesn't and it's absolute hell. it used to be regular before but then. 😔 he doesn't get that bad of cramps anymore tho 😎

timber shaves! being south asian, he was bound to get a lot of body hair anyway but being on T just made it. Worse. he shaves frequently and just prefers it that way for himself!

even after timbertwi break up, twi still keeps reminding him to take his T. they're still very close friends!

flash walks in to timber taking his T one day and gets concerned bc he doesn't know so he's like . "timbie what r u doing....." and timber isn't comfortable yet telling him so he says he knows what he's doing and he's not comfortable telling flash yet. flash respects him and leaves the room until timber's done

timber ends up telling him sometime soon (like a few weeks) n flash is like "OHHH you were taking your testosterone, i'm so dumb", timber says "never stopped being dumb" and flash tackles timber

timber's pretty confident in himself after a while. that's where his ego shit comes from, he tries to hype himself up despite not beliveing it or having doubts but he does eventually and he's rlly proud of himself :}

I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABT HEIGHT but timber gained tall genes from his family so he was already pretty tall before he started taking T!! he's taller than flash and he teases amab flash all the time for it hehe

and that's all so far !!! hope you got the seretonin you wanted!!

[wouldduskwood]

Jake's POV Descendants of Despair Part 59

Though having a purpose helped to distract me from what could have been, I still could not shake the mixture of feelings. The fact that she loved me so much she would commit herself to me, it was something I never really imagined would happen. Especially not with someone that genuinely loved and trusted me. I didn't deserve her. I wanted to be strong enough to leave her, before I hurt her. I was making myself miserable with it. I forced myself to focus on what we were doing, temporarily forget what had happened, but it was tough.

Finally, I was drawn into the nuances of human behaviour. As I read, the lies, the deceit..it was no wonder she had never trusted anyone. They all had a hidden agenda. Usually it was for an entirely selfish reason. Where MC and I had both been selfish in ways, they had usually been either for survival or to protect each other. The selfishness I saw on these websites were all purely to protect the self from their own lies and betrayals. So many people cheating on the people they supposedly loved. When I considered my relationship with MC, there was no way in hell I could see myself ever wanting anyone else. I knew she felt the same. It was inconceivable to me that this many people thought it was okay to have sex with whomever they pleased.

“Jake...uh...I’m glad you’re not a real boy...if being a real boy means this shit.” She sighed as she indicated the screen. “I’m not sure we are going to be able to pull this off too well. I won’t be able to see her reaction to things so won’t be able to know whether she is lying or shielding things and you won’t be able to tell me what your thoughts are. I think our best bet is going to have to be to make the meeting as short and to the point as possible.”

I nodded, both perplexed and horrified at what I was reading on the screen. “I guess this is one reason I am glad I went into hacking...the other people that are hacking as well all know that we are hiding stuff and very likely lying to each other. It’s like an unwritten social code. But this…” I groaned, indicating the screen with disgust. “We may have to do this soon so I don’t have too much time to freak out.”

“How quickly can you get an earpiece sorted?” She asked. My mind quickly drifted to the pieces I already had. I was relatively sure I had everything I'd need. “That won’t take long, I think I can piece one together myself. Can you sort out a meeting. Uh...I’m not sure where to take her that doesn’t look like a murder house.” I replied hesitantly and was somewhat taken aback when she giggled in response. “It’s nothing, just you didn’t mind giving Dan the illusion of a murder house, taking him to the abandoned warehouse,” She grinned. “Dan needed a good dose of fear,” I snickered. It was unfortunate that the surroundings hadn't seemed to get through to him. I'd have to try harder next time. “Can you sort a place? I trust you to find somewhere that won’t terrify her or out me.” I suggested.

I began to work, examining the small pieces I had as well as the tech that I could connect remotely to it. As I worked, I glanced at her every now and then. “Wait...I’m thinking about this all wrong,” She stated, breaking the silence and causing me to pause in my work. “I was thinking of a building that would give the illusion of comfort for Lilly and security for us, but I realised that is just stupid. What about the lake in Duskwood. We take an offshoot away from the main area and wait there. There won’t be cameras and it’s highly unlikely anyone will be around.”

“Hm, as long as we stay away from the forest, although if we go near it we could possibly run into the man without the face and then we may get a chance to end it once and for all.” I grinned, then forced myself to stop. Knowing her, somehow the man without a face would track her down and I'd be stuck with Lilly somewhere else. There was no way I should have been joking about it. “You’re right, that’s probably the most comforting place for Lilly. If we leave quickly we won’t be too likely to strike anyone else. Can you set it up?”

She grabbed her phone and as she looked for Lilly's contact, I quickly pulled up the mirror of her phone and Lilly's on my screen.

Lilly

MC: Hey Lilly

Lilly is online

Lilly: OMG where have you been?

MC: Something happened so I had to leave where I was staying, but I’m good now.

Lilly: Really? Is there something that you aren’t telling me MC?

I wondered briefly how she would tackle this. Would she tell Lilly the truth? Would she talk about me? Would she mention her love? Logically I knew that it was much safer if she was vague, but still I couldn't help but hope.

MC: Yes actually, Jake has asked me to set up a meeting with you. He was a bit nervous reaching out himself in case you refused.

Lilly: OMG really, he wants to meet up? Oh I’m so nervous!

MC: Listen, it won’t be a long meeting, you know how his life is. Just don’t get too excited for something he may not be able to provide for you.

Lilly: OH yes I do understand but still...I’m going to meet my big brother!

MC: I will contact you soon with timing, but it will be at Duskwood lake. Can you find a private area somewhere around there and then give Jake the coordinates or let him track you?

Lilly: Yes I think I know a place. I’ll do that. I’ll be waiting by my phone!

As I watched Lilly's phone, I saw she had disconnected too. That gave me a bit more faith in my half sister. She hadn't told anyone of the impending meeting. I hoped that it would stay that way. I closed MC's screen and kept Lilly's open, just incase.

She had disconnected quickly, cutting Lilly off before she could ask anything more that might elicit too much information being shared. I turned to her with a smile. “Nicely done.” I partially expected an angry reprimand at breaching her privacy, but to my pleasure she just continued speaking. She really did want me to know her as much as I wanted her to know myself. “Sorry I lied a bit. I thought it was best that she didn’t know too much.” She murmured. I smiled. “It’s fine, you did well. I’ll have this up and running soon. Do you want to sort out some food? It’s been a while since we last ate and we should still have something in the car.” She nodded thankfully, which pleased me too. I was getting good at taking care of her...and myself in the process. Maybe I was the nurturing type.

I busied myself with the fine art of piecing together an ear piece out of bits and pieces I had pulled out from a small pouch I kept amongst my tech gear. It was a tedious process but it felt good to be doing something worthwhile. I was interrupted in my work when she carried a meal over to me. She had put a fair bit of effort into her presentation, was I was thankful for. It made the unappealing array of food somewhat more palatable. We ate in silence then I began working again while she watched. When I glanced at her, she was looking at me.

“Okay, I’m going to test this. So, I have managed to hook up a rudimentary microphone as well as the ear piece. It will transmit okay, but it may be staticky so you will need to be aware it may be hard to hear things. I should be able to hear you fine from this part here.” I said, indicating various parts of the creation. Her expression confused me. “Uh, I’m pretty sure it will work…” I mumbled, suddenly self conscious.

“You’re incredible,” She murmured, instantly wiping away my self conscious feeling and replacing it with joy. I became oddly proud of the small part I played in this. “Let’s give it a go then I’ll message Lilly. We will try and do this tomorrow!” I smiled nervously then gave her a quick kiss, attempting to refrain from pouncing on her then and there. Together we tested my equipment. I walked various distances away to test the range. It seemed pretty reliable, and it was probably the best we had anyway. “Contact Lilly. Set it up,” I mumbled into the microphone, nervous about the direction my future would take now that my half sister would be involved. Maybe she could talk some sense into me. Help me save MC from pain...

Part 60

[imagine-loki]

Triple Threat, Chapter 1 (Sequel to Trust)

TITLE: Triple Threat CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 1 AUTHOR: fanficshiddles ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki kidnaps Darcy Lewis, in hopes of getting the tesseract in return for her. Imagine his surprise when he grows rather fond of the mortal, finding that she understands him better than anyone else ever has.  RATING: M

SUMMARY: Darcy and Loki were enjoying their life, still annoying the Avengers. But one day, Loki from another timeline appears. After causing some mischief, he tells them that Jane is compromised with the aether and under Thanos’ control. And he needs their help.

Now Darcy not only has TWO Loki’s to deal with, but also a deranged and tortured Jane who’s much more powerful than she should be.

But they have to find her first.

Darcy was late. Ohhh so late.

She ran as fast as she could out of the compound with her bag over her shoulder, Thor, Tony, Natasha, Bruce and Loki were waiting at the Bifrost site.

‘Sorry! I’m sorry! I couldn’t find my contacts and got up late.’ She said out of breath as she slammed into Loki’s side, he slipped his arm around her waist to steady her.

It had been almost six months since Loki and Darcy realised they couldn’t love anyone else. Although, whilst they tried going on proper dates together, they found it wasn’t really them. The whole romance thing.

The Avengers didn’t really know what to make of them both. Loki and Darcy didn’t like it when they were called boyfriend and girlfriend, and to the team they were just like they were before. Mischievous and a bit annoying. But the team knew that no one else would get a look in at either of them now, that was for sure.

Did Darcy love Loki? Yes, she did. She wouldn’t ever hesitate to say she did. And Loki felt the same. They already had a strong foundation built together. Had they added very regular sex to the mix? Hell yes! Did Loki want to kill every man that even just looked at Darcy in a flirtatious way? Of course!

But they were comfortable and happy with what they were. Whatever it was.

‘You’re late.’ Loki drawled.

‘Well, someone failed to wake me up!’ She looked up at him, narrowing her eyes.

‘I’m not your alarm clock, it’s not my duty to wake you.’

‘It is when you’re the reason I was up most of the night. I was walking like John Wayne when I got up. It would’ve been polite to at least wake me.’ She huffed.

‘Eww. Too much information!’ Tony said as he pulled a face.

Loki just looked very smug.

‘Exciting night, huh?’ Natasha smirked at Darcy.

‘Hell yeah!’ Darcy grinned.

Loki chuckled and squeezed Darcy’s side, just as Thor called for Heimdall to open the Bifrost. Whisking them all up to Asgard.

Asgard and Midgard were working together, sharing science and technology. Tony and Bruce were able to take their inventions to completely new levels, while Asgard learned a thing or two from the scientist mortals.

So trips to the golden city were quite regular. Darcy went along whenever Loki went. Frigga was always so happy to see her, even Odin was starting to warm up to her, too. He was also trying with Loki, attempting to make amends for not being a great father. Loki didn’t make it easy, but Darcy kept telling him off and told him to try and at least be civil.

When they arrived, horses were waiting for them on the Bifrost. Tony and Bruce couldn’t get used to riding the horses, they were worse than Darcy had been her first time. They stuck to a very slow walk and took forever. Natasha was a natural rider, which didn’t surprise Darcy or Loki.

Darcy ended up having a favourite horse, a lovely grey mare, she was a gentle giant. Loki always helped her up, often flinging her too far so she would fall off the other side. That would usually end up with Darcy withholding sex for a day or two.

Luckily, he didn’t do that this time. He winked at her as he got onto his horse and the two went galloping ahead as normal. Thor and Natasha raced up after them with Tony and Bruce slowly lagging behind.

‘Hey, Birger! How’s it going?’ Darcy asked when they reached the stables and Birger was on duty just outside.

‘Good morning, Darcy.’ He took hold of the reins for her while she dismounted. ‘You’re getting better at riding, I see.’ He grinned.

‘Yeah it’s getting easier. Soon I’ll be bale to beat this one’s ass.’ She smirked and motioned to Loki who came up beside her.

Loki poked her side playfully. ‘Unlikely.’

‘You never know, My Prince. This mare is one of the fastest in the stables.’ Birger laughed.

Loki narrowed his eyes at Birger and then Darcy. ‘You’re turning Birger to the dark side. Stop!’ Loki put his hand over Darcy’s face with a chuckle.

Birger took Darcy and Loki’s horses from them, just as Thor and Natasha caught up with them. They knew the other two would take forever, so the four of them went inside and headed straight for the banquet hall.

Sif and the warriors three were there. They were pleased to see everyone, more so Thor. But Sif had a soft spot for Darcy, they got along well after they first met when Darcy and Loki visited for a week. Sif was secretly giving Darcy some fighting lessons, she wanted to surprise Loki.

Darcy had remembered when Jane told her about Sif, how she seemed stuck up and rather snippy with her. But Darcy had a feeling it was because Sif had a crush on Thor. So of course she would have been jealous of Jane.

‘Where’s the science dudes?’ Sif asked as everyone sat down to eat.

‘Probably still halfway across the Bifrost.’ Loki smirked.

‘Perhaps we should get them a carriage next time. Or take one of the ships.’ Thor suggested with a mouthful.

‘What are they hoping to achieve this trip anyway?’ Darcy asked as she filled her plate up with various meat and vegetables. She LOVED the food on Asgard.

‘Weren’t you listening in class?’ Loki rumbled, raising his eyebrow at her with a playful smile.

‘I was probably too busy staring at your ass.’ She shrugged.

Loki laughed while the others rolled their eyes.

‘I believe they’re hoping to finally get some of the magic from the healers into some kind of containment, so they can take it back home and study it properly. Change into something we can use. It would help speed up healing so much.’ Natasha said.

‘At least she listens in class.’ Loki teased Darcy, who then proceeded to stick her tongue out at him.

‘So childish.’ Loki tutted at her.

By the time Bruce and Tony joined them, the rest of them had stuffed themselves full and went to their chambers to get unpacked.

‘I’m gonna hang out with Sif while you are doing science with the others.’ Darcy said to Loki once they were sorted in his chambers. She was tying her hair up in a bun at the mirror.

Loki walked over to her and slipped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head as he looked at her in the mirror.

‘What do you two get up to together? Hmm?’ He asked.

‘Girl stuff.’ Darcy shrugged.

Loki raised an eyebrow, not entirely convinced. But he took her to meet Sif before heading off to the healer’s room himself to meet Natasha, Tony and Bruce.

As soon as Loki was out of sight, Sif took Darcy outside to the training area. She kitted her out with some basic armour, a shield and a sword.

‘Have you been practising the steps?’ Sif asked as she took out her own sword.

‘Yep. Well, whenever Loki is out of the way.’

‘Have you heard from Jane lately?’ Sif asked when they started doing some simple blocking moves, Darcy was able to step away and use the sword or shield to block any attacks from Sif.

‘Nope, nothing. It’s like she’s just vanished off the face of the earth.’ Darcy sighed.

‘Weird. I thought she was in love with Thor, she always seemed head over heels for him when they visited. Have you asked Heimdall to check in on her?’

‘Nah. She was such a bitch towards me and Loki ever since I was kidnapped by him in the first place. It’s up to her to come to me, if she wants to make amends.’ Darcy then took a jab towards Sif, surprising the female warrior and hitting her chest armour. But she was impressed.

‘Ohh, sneaky. You’ve been practising more than just your steps.’ She grinned.

‘Sure have!’ Darcy said triumphantly.

‘When are you going to show Loki your new skills?’

‘Tomorrow. I want to surprise him by asking him to teach me some moves. Speaking of which, can we work on tackling? I want to try taking him down.’ Darcy said as she stopped to catch her breath for a moment.

Sif laughed and put her arm around Darcy’s shoulders. ‘You really think you’ll be able to knock Loki down?’

Darcy shrugged. ‘I’m hoping the element of surprise will help me.’

‘Good luck with that. Loki is the champ of deception and he is NOT easy to take down, even though he doesn’t look very strong.’ Sif said.

‘Tell me about it. He can lift me with ease with one arm, uses me for weightlifting practice.’ Darcy huffed.

‘Sounds just like the old Loki really is back.’ Sif laughed.

‘Did he hang out with you guys when you were little?’ Darcy asked, they took a seat on a bench for a while to chat.

‘Not often. He was more into books and his magic. A bit of a loner. But I guess we didn’t help the fact by teasing and making fun of him, he was Thor’s little brother, that’s how we saw him. I feel bad now, knowing about his true heritage and everything he’s been through. But there were times his mischievousness shone through and he would join in sometimes.’

Darcy nodded. ‘He did tell me that he struggled because you would all fight with brute strength more than anything. While he prefers more skilled combat, using his magic and tricks.’

‘He is a highly skilled sorcerer, always has been after Frigga’s teachings. I think in a way, we were probably more intimidated by his skills than anything, which likely made things worse. There aren’t many people like him out there.’

‘There certainly isn’t. Which is probably a good thing, one Loki is enough to deal with.’ Darcy laughed and hopped back up to her feet. ‘Come on, let’s fight!’

-

That night, Darcy was getting ready for bed.

‘Hey, Loks. Can you poof me up my toothbrush? I forgot to pack it.’ She said as she rummaged through her bag.

‘Already in the bathroom.’ Loki said, he was in bed already, reading a book.

When Darcy headed into the bathroom, she smiled as she saw it was indeed there. Next to Loki’s in a little cup by the sink.

‘I used it to clean the toilet when we arrived.’ He called through to her when she started brushing her teeth.

Darcy popped her head round the door to look at him, brush sticking out of her mouth. ‘Yeah? Well I used yours to clean my ass. So guess that makes us even!’ She grinned and disappeared to the sink again.

Loki rolled his eyes and chuckled. ‘You can be so disgusting sometimes.’ He said loud enough for her to hear.

‘Right back at you!’ She shouted through.

He had just put his book down when Darcy came through to join him in bed. She jumped on top of him, he chuckled and let out a fake oomph.

‘Have you put on a little weight?’ He asked as he poked her sides.

‘Hey! That’s not a very nice way of flirting.’ Darcy scowled at him.

Loki smirked and ran his hands up and down her upper arms, squeezing her biceps. ‘You’ve got more muscles…’ He hummed. ‘Why have I not noticed this?’

Darcy rolled off him to the side. ‘Maybe because you’re too focused on other aspects of my body.’ She grinned and started un-buttoning her pyjama top, hoping to quickly get his mind off her new muscles.

‘Mmm… indeed.’ Loki purred and rolled on top of her.

[rvmmm21]

. you know who i am? part end .

*yawn* i can now sleep for a while. thanks guys! if you read this all the way through, can i get some pocky pls? i’m craving it right now.

part 1′s here.

part 2′s here.

[badgirl/bully!joohyun x freshman!seungwan]

...

Seungwan, the poor fool, would never have guessed.

She thought she was in deep? Hah! Joohyun was yelling at her to stop wading in the kiddie pool and come join her in the deep end.

If only she’d been able to see past her own emotions to realise it was Joohyun who had started this whole mess by making them partners all those weeks ago.

~~~~~~~~~~

Seulgi, like any sane human being, disapproves greatly when Seungwan lays her options down on the table one morning.

“Mmph!” she grunts, shaking her head and hastily swallowing the last mouthful of sashimi before staring at her delusional friend, “no, absolutely freakin no way.”

“I-I mean it’s more like paraphrasing…” Seungwan offers, shrinking into herself when she sees the other girl grow more frustrated by the second.

“Stop it, Seungwan,” she interjects, massaging her temples to soothe the ache, “you literally told me you were planning to ‘lift quoted texts and mush them together’. I mean, come on, that’s plagiarism plain and simple. Stop trying to defend it.”

“B-but Seul, I don’t have a choice!”

“Really? Cheating? Hello, is Son Seungwan home? This isn’t you, Wan-ah, you sound crazy! And so is she! And that’s literally – ah wait, no that makes it perfect… aish forget I even said anything.”

Seungwan mirrors her concern. “I think she might have actually made me insane, Seul. I’ve never thought about cheating… ever!”

It’s true. Seungwan’s always been a tucked-in shirt, pulled up socks, neatly ironed uniform kind of girl. She currently feels like the biggest hypocrite. Seulgi’s scoff triggers her rambling again.

“I-I don’t know though, it’s like… it’s like the more we work together, the more I wanna be together! A-and not even like be together as in girlfriends or anything… just, I dunno, spend time with her. I wanna be around her constantly… and stuff. I think I might fail this semester cos I can’t stop thinking about her. But… I have to do better, cause if I fail, she fails. A-and I’ll never let that happen.”

Seungwan’s expression screams ‘whipped’, and it pleads for some sort of reassurance, but Seulgi’s fresh out of stock at the moment. She’s too shocked by what she’s just heard her twit of a roommate tell her. When she finally finds her tongue, it’s not to give her friend the reassurance she so desperately seeks, but to simply ask.

“But do you want to?”

Huh?! The girl screams in her head. Do I want to what? Plagiarise? Have a cup of tea? Tell Joohyun to stay ten feet away from me because whenever she’s near I just want to grab her by the face and kiss her silly?! Or perhaps I need to be demanding she pay my hospital bills because my heart is –

“Be her girlfriend.”

Oh, wow, blunt. But when you put it like that…

Slowly, Seungwan looks up at Seulgi; looking like she’d been caught with her hand in the metaphorical cookie jar; guilty as hell.

“… mm… can you repeat the question…?”

~~~~~~~~~~

The flip side of the coin isn’t looking so shiny, either.

Joohyun finds herself all caught up in thoughts of Son Seungwan; the girl she’s wanted since day one, but the girl who also managed to properly steal her unguarded heart while she was busy acting all aloof and in control. In control was something she definitely wasn’t, right now. And as much as she should be out, guns a blazing, to retrieve what’s been stolen from her, she can’t help but not want it back. Somehow, she feels as though it’s safer in Seungwan’s hands.

Clumsy, weak-hearted girls were certainly in fashion, and Joohyun is dead-set on getting hers.

“Yah!” Sooyoung swats at the hand that’s just stolen her one of her last Pocky sticks, “that was the longest one! I was saving that till last!”

Joohyun ignores her, thoughtfully nibbling on the chocolate coated biscuit as she contemplates her next move. She glances over at the other girl upside down on the bed, blocking random Instagram followers with her feet up against the wall and an open packet of crisps by her head.

“Jennie,” she deadpans, “do you think I should do it?”

The girl barely takes a second to look back at Joohyun before swiftly pinching the actual last Pocky out of Sooyoung’s grasp. They both pay no mind to the frustrated yelling from their flabbergasted friend as she storms off into the kitchen to throw away the empty box. She leaves them in peace.

“I dunno,” Jennie shrugs coolly, returning to her blocking spree, “but you better stop playing with your food. Didn’t your mum tell you it’s rude?”

Joohyun rolls her eyes. “Yah, I told you, I’m not playing. I don’t want anyone else thinking they have a chance with her.”

“So do it,” Sooyoung re-enters the room, already chomping on a fresh box of snacks, “stake your claim. Get her before those others do.”

Joohyun perks up, a glare frosting over her pretty face. “What others?”

Sooyoung smiles at Jennie, knowing their lovesick friend has fallen for it.

“Oh you know,” she cracks on, “those hordes of people I saw outside class once. They were all lining up to confess to your  Seungwan, love letters and everything.”

Joohyun realises she could tackle Sooyoung right now, but she chooses not to. Instead she turns to face the girl who looks smug as ever with a mouthful of crisps.

“Ha ha, very funny,” she scoffs, “oh yeah, and I lied. I did drink your strawberry milk the other day.”

Sooyoung’s eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. “Hyun!! I knew it wasn’t Haetnimie!”

~~~~~~~~~~

Seungwan often found herself dreaming about it; as if she couldn’t decide whether it had really happened or not.

The first time Joohyun kissed her.

…

Joohyun scans the landscape for her study buddy today. Strategically situated in the furthest, quietest corner the bustling café has to offer, she takes impatient glances down at her phone set face up on the small, round table. Late, as usual, she thinks, rolling her eyes as she flicks her phone screen on and off for the sake of something to do.

Finally, her impatience is fizzled away by the tinkling of the small bell at the stop of the door, indicating a new patron.

Late and clumsy, more like, she corrects herself, a smile crawling up her face as she watches the harassed-looking girl spot her with an embarrassed wave and begin to make her way over, books cradled in arms and a tube of string cheese between her teeth. Joohyun can’t stop a giggle when Seungwan thinks she’s knocked someone’s latte off their table with her bag strap. She bows over and over, spluttering disjointed apologies only to find out the cup is still perfectly on the table and the people are now looking at her in pure amazement.

Oh god, another one for the books then, Seungwan sighs, turning her beet-red face away from them and slinking on.

Eventually, she’s settled down across Joohyun, who’s been waiting, she realises in horror as she checks the time, for 15 whole minutes.

“Sorry I’m late,” her breathless smile and tired eyes have Joohyun subconsciously softening at her sincerity, “I didn’t get much sleep last night, and oh–! Have you eaten, unnie?”

Seungwan digs into her school bag, and, with a happy little ‘ta-da!’, pulls out a nicely cling wrapped, homemade oatmeal cookie.

“I decided to bake, instead,” she cheerfully chirps, breaking off a portion of the baked treat and offering the bigger half to her raven haired senior, “I bake these a lot, you should try!”

Disappointment nudges Seungwan’s heart when Joohyun glares at her, suddenly aware of the sting in her bicep from still holding part of her cookie out in front of her. She tries not to let it show, but the disappointment quickly turns into something else when she sees that all too familiar smirk flower on Joohyun’s pretty lips.

“You should feed me.”

Seungwan shivers at the expectant stare she’s fixed with while the other girl remains composed as always. Annoying. Before she has time to respond, her knee collides with the underside of the table, loudly clinking the metal cutlery and causing a few heads to turn. It takes everything in her not to look down where she just knows Joohyun’s foot is ever so lightly grazing her pant leg.

Joohyun blinks innocently at Seungwan’s rapidly reddening face as she’s forced to apologise profusely yet again, this time for something she’s actually done.

“Unnie…” she croaks, trying to calm her racing heart.

“What?” Joohyun cocks her head. She promptly picks the cookie out of the girl’s fingers and takes a bite, “serves you right for keeping me waiting.”

Seungwan lets out a breathy groan and begins flipping the pages to where she’s bookmarked.

“Mm, this is really good, Seungwan.”

Cadbury eyes light up at the praise and Seungwan stops annotating to cap her highlighter.

“R-really? You like it? Oh that’s great news! I’ll make you some more! I can!”

Joohyun chuckles and nods. Seungwan’s puppy eagerness melts her more than she cares to admit. The way any sort of positive affirmation she throws her way has her excitedly tossing aside whatever she’s doing. Not that it matters anyway, Joohyun’s more than happy to take rightful precedence over stupid assignments and due dates.

“Good. Best I’ve eaten in a while.”

…

“So that’s what I’ve interpreted here. Going off what he’s written in this paragraph, I think he genuinely believes he’s right.”

It happens somewhere between ‘genuinely’ and ‘right’.

Smooth and secretive.

Like the hushed whisper over the din of a crowded room.

Fingers tug at her collar and a pair of lips press into hers from across the table. She’s caught completely unawares, and Joohyun’s lips are gone before she can even get used to them. She watches in shock as her senior sits back down, not even giving her a second look as she returns to annotating the next paragraph.

Seungwan can’t believe Joohyun’s ignorant to the fact that she’s just unfolded her origami heart like no one has before.

~~~~~~~~~~

The blaring of Jessie J’s ‘Price Tag’ piercing her peaceful Sunday morning has Seungwan flailing to grab her phone off the table top. She has to swipe three times after playing hot potato with the device before she finally manages to answer the call.

“Hello,” the screen is cold against her ear as she groggily answers.

“Oh hello? Seungwan? Did I wake you? I’ll call later – ”

Joohyun’s husky voice registers in her brain and she shoots up so fast into a sitting position she feels slightly light-headed.

“No no no!” she exclaims a little too enthusiastically, running a hand through the tangled mess on her head and palming swollen eyes, “I’m awake it’s fine. We can talk. Is… is everything okay?”

“Yes, it’s okay, don’t worry.”

Joohyun sounds like she’s smiling over the phone, but Seungwan doesn’t get her hopes up. The other girl continues. “Yeah, probably should’ve texted you earlier to tell you I was coming by your dorm, but I was picking something up at the shops anyway so I thought I’d drop by and try my luck.”

“Oh, I see,” Seungwan isn’t sure if she wants to ask if this is about what happened at their latest study session but her nerves dampen a little when Joohyun chips in.

“You left your pen at the café so I’m just returning it.”

Ah, okay, Seungwan thinks. She’s weirdly upset at the fact that Joohyun’s pretending nothing had happened between them. Perhaps she toys with people this way. Perhaps Seungwan’s just another notch in her string of empty loves. Irritation pinches into her chest at the prospect. Couldn’t miss high-and-mighty take into account her feelings for once? It’s not like she could just change Seungwan’s life like this and not expect to take an ounce of responsibility.

It’s absolutely unfair. She almost wants to scream into her phone, but Joohyun’s voice stops her before she can even open her mouth.

“… oh and. We need to talk.”

Okay, there it is. Commanding and concise; what Bae Joohyun does best. She doesn’t know if she should be jumping for joy or locating the nearest exit, but she nonetheless finds herself hastily shuffling to her wardrobe to throw on the first pair of trousers and hoodie she finds.

“Uh sure, unnie… give me ten minutes? I’ll be down. Did you want to meet at the shops?”

“No it’s okay. Just meet me downstairs, I’m waiting.”

And she hangs up.

…

With how fast Seungwan brushes her teeth and gets herself dressed, it should be in the Guinness Book of World Records for the quickest thing anyone’s ever done for love. There’s no time to fiddle around with contacts today so she rummages through her drawer for her only pair of chrome steel-rimmed glasses.

She brushes past Seulgi who’s sitting on the sofa having breakfast. The girl’s eyes suspiciously follow her harried friend as she rushes out the door, crinkling her nose at the distinct waft of perfume that lingers after she’s gone.

Seungwan spots Joohyun leaning over the railing outside her dorm. She pauses before pushing the huge glass doors open, shaking her head with a sigh. How does someone make mum jeans and a white t-shirt look Vogue-worthy?

Joohyun sports the faintest smile when she sees Seungwan jogging over to her; her pin-rolled sweatpants, fluffy Uniqlo hoodie and unruly bed hair making her look nothing short of adorable. Dumb little sleepyhead, Joohyun mumbles just out of earshot.

“I’m glad I woke you up bright and early,” she chuckles at the girl who’s bent over next to her, clutching the railing to catch her breath.

Joohyun gets a quick ruffle of soft, caramel hair before Seungwan straightens up. She holds the black ballpoint up to the other girl, who accepts it with a small thankful nod.

“Thanks, unnie,” Seungwan says, not really interested in the returned possession. She really wants to ‘talk’. “So uh, you wanted to… talk?”

“Ah, yes. Um…”

Joohyun blinks a couple times, seemingly at a loss for words. She seems not  to know what to do with herself, darting her gaze here and there, lightly rapping her fingers against the cool metal bar. Her sudden awkwardness is more than justified, though. After all, confessing to the victim of her bullying has never been something to cross Joohyun’s mind. For once, she’s the one tripping over herself. For once, she’s the one caught completely off-guard.

Even the gentle morning breeze feels awkward. Seungwan starts to think that ‘shopping’ is looking more and more like a cover up for something else.

She inwardly beams at the way Joohyun currently embodies everything she’s felt this entire time. However, she decides if she is ever going stand up for what she believes in, it’s now. Taking a deep breath, she mentally thanks Seulgi for her advice on how to appear like less of an idiot in front of the person you’re deeply in love with.

“Unnie,” she begins, “I need you to tell me honestly. What are we?”

Joohyun opens her mouth to reply, but nothing comes out. She’s still at a loss for how she could possibly convey what she wanted to in this moment. Goddamn, she curses, why can’t I just go back to bullying this little nerd? When did life screw me over like this?

She stays silent as Seungwan so confidently lays the cards out for her.

“Because I know how I feel… and…” her tone falters momentarily, her natural awkward self threatens to barge in again but she manages to shut the door on it.

“… and I… I like you.”

The confession is significantly quieter than anything she said before, but Joohyun hears it through a megaphone. Her eyebrows arch up and she turns to face the girl who’s had the courage to do what she’s wanted to do all along.

“Seungwan…”

She looks at the other girl who’s silent; waiting.

“I-I don’t know how to…”

“Then don’t.”

Her breath hitches when Seungwan’s fingers interruptedly caress her pink cheek. The shorter girl slowly leans in, and Joohyun gladly lets her take the lead.

Eyelashes flutter and the world stops altogether, when Seungwan presses her soft, pillowy lips to hers in a positively heart-attack inducing kiss. It’s tender, luscious and Joohyun can’t get enough. She takes in everything she feels; the tip of Seungwan’s nose gently poking her cheek, her fringe tickling just below her eyebrows and the hand now resting on the small of her back, drawing her in for more.

A shared cluster of fireworks go off behind both their eyelids.

Seungwan pulls away first, gracefully meeting the gaze she was once terrified of. Joohyun’s smiling now, and she doesn’t miss the way it reaches her eyes. It’s much easier to speak her feelings when she isn’t being shot at with death glares.

Yet she suddenly feels shy, withdrawing completely and scratching nervously at her arm. “Unnie… I was wondering if I could uh… you know…”

Of course Joohyun knows. The tables turn yet again when the elder girl finds herself a new assertiveness to wear after that kiss. Sweet lips curl into a knowing smirk, much like the one she usually exhibits. “Be my girlfriend?”

Fresh rose petals sprinkle over Seungwan’s cheeks as she meekly nods.

Joohyun laughs, grabbing the surprised girl by the wrist and melding their bodies together, hand cradling Seungwan’s nape.

“Silly freshman,” she says fondly, leaning in to playfully peck her on the nose. “You were always mine.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Seungwan flings her pen into space for the umpteenth time today when Joohyun leans over from her position on the bed and gives her a kiss. She should be used to it by now, but it’s just something about those mysterious eyes and the velvety voice that she can never quite acclimatise to. It’s something about that specific shade of maraschino cherries on Joohyun’s lips, and the fact they taste even sweeter when they’re pressed against hers. Everything’s too sudden, and it has her light-headed and reeling each and every goddamned time. Grumbling, the younger girl squirms around for a while before she sprawls out with the fattest heart eyes, muffled thuds from socked feet kicking a tantrum into Joohyun’s wooden floorboards.

“Ahhhh unnieeee,” she squeals, wriggling around like a deranged worm, “please stop distracting me, we have to get this done!”

Joohyun smiles at how she looks like a kindergartener who’s just had their lollipop taken away. You know the one, when they’re all grumpy but so cute to watch.

“Get it done then,” she says unhelpfully down at Seungwan’s red face, grinning at the exaggerated sigh she receives for it.

“You’re not helpinggg-ahhhhhh,” Seungwan rolls around helplessly, and Joohyun merely laughs at her partner turned human mop.

“It’s not my job to help, Wannie. I’m the bully, you get bullied. That’s the deal, so don’t you forget it.”

Pft, yeah sure. This time it’s Seungwan who can’t stop the budding laughter as she recalls the past few weeks with this girl.

It takes about five seconds for Seungwan to un-starfish herself and drag her upper half up into a sitting position again; her mouth may say stop, but those rosy cheeks, that sulky school-girl pout and messy hair absolutely begs for another.

“Only joking, freshman. I’ll help you. But only cause you’re cute. And you’ll owe me, big time,” she teases before darting her eyes to the corner behind the other girl.

Seungwan’s eyes light up at the offer. “Thank you, unnie. Let’s get star– ”

“Hey Wan, what’s that over there?”

“Huh?”

A teasing smirk and a fraction of a second later, Joohyun has Seungwan staring up at the ceiling after her spine does a 404 error, rendering her a boneless heap of lovesick gurgles and deserted thoughts.

And it was only a kiss!

“Unnieeee!!”

The never peaceful study session dissolves into a small insult battleground; playful, of course.

The fun might’ve just begun, but their open books and un-analysed literature stare up at them in disbelief; forgotten yet again.

Joohyun’s had enough of watching from the clouds and proceeds to get off the bed to join Seungwan on the floor. They tussle around for a while, before Joohyun’s hovering above her. She’s just staring down, something that happens so often but never fails to make Seungwan squirm in discomfort, all shy and self-conscious. Joohyun doesn’t care, though. She simply smiles; she can ignore all the playground insults hurled at her, the tiny fists half-heartedly pummelling at her arms in an attempt to get her to move off. Hell, she can even ignore Mr. Lee’s stern warnings about failing the class if she keeps turning up late, or Sooyoung’s hollow threats at tattooing ‘I’m a thief’ across her forehead when she’s asleep unless she stops eating her food when she’s not around.

There’s a lot Joohyun can ignore, and plenty more she’ll choose to in the future.

But she can never ignore the girl who clumsily left her taro tea fingerprints all over her heart.

[jungshookz]

the one where yoongi finds the scrapbook you didn’t have the chance to give him

☁ pairing: min yoongi x reader  

☁ genre: android!yoongi universe, heartwrenching angst, sad hours!! 

☁ summary: yoongi misses you more than you could ever know. 

☁ wordcount: 2.4k 

☁ trigger warnings: mentions of character death

☁ note: sUPER!!!!! important that you listen to this while you read the drabble to set the mood! i tried to keep the drabble short so that you’d be able to finish reading it just as the song wraps up buT once again this was a baby drabble that spun out of control so i suppose you could always play it on repeat til ya finish reading lol // this drabble honestly came out of nowhere buT it was really gloomy out today so i wrote a drabble inspired by the movie ‘up’

(gif isn’t mine!)

                                   ━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

yoongi first stumbles upon the scrapbook when going through the closet to choose an outfit for you (he ended up choosing that dark blue floral dress you liked so much)

he thought it was one of your old notebooks from university but… it’s not

it was tucked underneath a whole bunch of old shoe boxes filled with extra nuts and bolts and wires

‘𝓼𝓽𝓾𝓯𝓯 𝔀𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓭’

yoongi furrows his brows as he brushes his fingers over the foam letters that have obviously been hot glued onto the front of the faded leather journal

he opens the book to a random page and his eyes immediately start watering when he sees your handwriting

you always did have the prettiest handwriting

‘remember when-‘

yoongi slaps the book shut and shakes his head before tucking it away and getting back up onto his creaky knees 

(namjoon’s starting to lose his touch) ((yoongi noticed his frail fingers trembling the other day when he was tightening a screw in his leg))

he’s not going to read the book

yoongi shuts the closet door quietly

he’s not going to even open the book

so

the thing is

yoongi still hasn’t touched the book but he’s thought about it every single day

he hasn’t touched it because he knows that if he opens it up and looks through it the realisation that you’re no longer with him will finally start to sink in

he knows it’s been two months since you passed

he knows it’s been two months since he last held your hand and kissed you and told you how much he loved you

he knows it’s been two months since he last woke up to the sight of you curled up next to him

he knows it’s been two months since he’s started coming back to a cold and dark apartment instead of a warm and bright one where you greet him at the door and smother him in kisses before starting to blab about your day

it’s just

weird

it’s weird not having you around

it’s weird not hearing you tinker around in the kitchen at three in the morning snacking on some animal crackers or going hAm on a tub of ice cream (even after all these years he still thinks it’s funny how you always seem to think you can get away with your midnight snacking) 

it’s weird having to wash and dry the dishes all by himself because you were always the designated dryer and he’s caught himself holding out a freshly washed plate next to him on more than one occasion

he’s used to you standing right next to him and now there’s no one there

it’s weird doing all the chores alone 

you were awful at folding the laundry but yoongi liked having you next to him struggling to fold up a pair of jeans 

it’s weird not seeing you vacuum the living room while humming a song to yourself and bopping around all over the place 

it’s weird when he cooks dinner now because he doesn’t have you peeking over his shoulder and begging him to give you a little taste of the spaghetti sauce before he plates dinner 

it’s weird watching tv alone

it’s weird not turning his head and seeing you all snuggled up on your sofa chair because you fell asleep halfway through a movie of yoongi’s choice (you were never really an action movie person)

it’s weird not having to pull the covers aggressively over him halfway through the night because you were always a blanket hogger

it’s weird not making faces with you in the mirror every morning when the two of you are brushing your teeth

he hasn’t touched any of your things

your toothbrush is still sitting next to his

the right side of the bed still belongs to you

the framed picture of you and namjoon from university days still sits on your bedside counter (right next to the framed picture of you and yoongi at that pottery place you took him to for his birthday) ((the two of you are sitting across from each other and your clay-stained hands are squishing yoongi’s cheeks together while yoongi’s face is all scrunched up)) (((jungkook took the photo)))

the right side of the closet still belongs to you

all your old cardigans and sweaters and t-shirts (some borrowed aka stolen from yoongi) are still hanging there

the knitted blanket that he made for you still hangs over the arm of your chair in the living room 

he hasn’t even touched the jar of soft caramel chews that sit on the coffee table (it took a loT of convincing for yoongi to let you fill an entire jar up with candy)

the apartment is far too quiet

the only thing that can be heard right now is the soft pitter patter of the rain against the windows and the occasional rumble of thunder

yoongi glances out the window for a brief second and watches as a flash of lightning lights up the sky for a moment

it’s been raining a lot as of late

you always thought that rainy days were perfect for staying inside to snuggle up together and read a book

yoongi perks up slightly and looks down the hallway to where the bedroom is

…a book.

“You were never really an arts and crafts person, so this is a surprise to me.” yoongi says aloud as he sits back down on his chair with the leather scrapbook on his lap

he smooths a hand over the front cover and raises a brow when he notices one of the foam letters coming loose “You have the crafting abilities of a child, you know that?”

he can practically feel you slapping his arm and letting out a whine at how hard he’s ripping into your crafting abilities

he gives it a quick flip through as to prepare himself for all the things he’s about to see

the book is practically bursting considering it seems like you tried to shove as much stuff in here as possible

also the pages smell like the perfume you like to wear 

very sweet and flowery 

you’ve taped polaroid pictures in there along with other little mementoes like movie tickets and a copy of your work ID from bangtan laboratories and even a copy of yoongi’s blueprints that you stole from namjoon and a couple dried petals from the bouquet of roses yoongi gave to you on one valentine’s day aND of course the bracelets you got from when yoongi took you to the winter carnival

there are even the photobooth pictures that you guys took at the carnival

yoongi proposed to you halfway through posing for pictures because he wanted to be able to capture the exact moment he asked you to marry him

the first picture is of you mimicking yoongi’s poker face (he always thought your poker face was shiT) ((and he was right)) with yoongi rolling his eyes next to you

the second picture is of you with your tongue sticking out and your eyes crossed as yoongi is faced away from the camera rummaging through his jacket pocket

the third picture is of you suddenly being aware of the purple velvet box yoongi has in his hand and the look of pure shock on your face aLways makes him laugh

the fourth picture is of you with watery eyes and a gaPing mouth because yoongi just asked you to marry him

and the last picture is of you practically tackling yoongi in the cramped booth

all that can be seen is one of yoongi’s legs and arms in the air because you did actually tackle him strAight out of the booth

he flips to the next page and purses his lips when he sees that there’s nothing on the page besides a hastily written note

‘flip to page 6’

hm

yoongi can’t help but snort lightly when he sees the note you left for him on page 6

‘made you look, you gullible-ass android - you were always so easy to prank! still love you though xoxoxoxoxo’

it looks like you left a kiss mark next to the note even though it’s kind of faded now

he always liked it when you wore that wine-red lipstick

‘remember when you got mad at me for breaking my bracelet that one time? …i kind of did it again.’  

you took your bracelet apart and pulled out the wires and then glued them into the shape of a heart for the sake of sticking it into your scrapbook and yoongi laughs lightly at the memory of him taking care of you all night after he picked you up from that club and you were practically stumbling all over the damn place

he remembers how you asked him to stay with you that night after he tucked you into bed

and he did

he stayed with you

you told him he was warm and he said it was because of his generator

he only said that because he was nervous!!!!

there’s a handwritten recipe for chocolate chip zucchini bread taped to this page

he smiles and dusts his fingers over the spot on the page that’s been stained with chocolate

he remembers how he insisted on making zucchini bread for your birthday instead of a traditional birthday cake because it was his way of sneaking more vegetables into your diet and aLso it has less sugar and is less fattening so!!!!

also zucchini bread is vEry good and you can’t even taste the zucchini so it’s a win-win situation

and somehow you had snuck into the kitchen while he left to go dig through the pantry for some sugar and you had sprinkled a handful of chocolate chips into the batter before quickly getting the heCk out of there

yoongi hadn’t noticed the chocolate chips until he cut a slice for you and noticed that his knife had streaks of melted chocolate and-

“You didn’t.” yoongi gawks and watches as you rip a chunk off and pop it into your mouth

you swallow your bite and hum happily “oh, but i did!”

yoongi sighs and reaches over to dot a bit of melted chocolate onto the tip of your nose “You drive me absolutely crazy, you know that?”

“i’ve been told.”

and on this page you made a little pocket and slipped the CD from your wedding into it

‘side a has our wedding video; side b has all the songs we danced to.’

yoongi recalls the night you came home with a whole list of songs that you wanted to dance to at the wedding

yoongi wasn’t programmed to be a dancing android so he was ready to download some software and become a professional waltzer in five seconds flat but you stopped him because you said you wanted to teach him how to dance

“Learning is hard.” yoongi grumbles as he tries to figure out the footwork of the waltz “Also, shouldn’t I be leading this dance?”

“i’m going to lose my toes if you lead the dance.” you snort and hit the play button on your phone “now, c’mon!”

yoongi lets out a sigh as you place your hand on his shoulder and he reaches out to grip at your waist

you take his other hand in yours and take a step forward

yoongi takes a step back at the same time

okay

yeah

this is boring

yoongi’s not doing this

“I do not want to waltz.” 

you let out a gasp when yoongi suddenly spins you around in a circle before pulling you close and wrapping his arms around your waist

“Can we dance like this?” he grabs your arms before hanging them loosely around his neck

you let out a soft giggle and lean in to press your forehead against his as the two of you sway back and forth “you’re lucky i love you so much.”

“That is one of the reasons as to why you are marrying me, yes?”

“…you got me there.”

as he continues to flip through the book and look through all the memories that he shared with you, yoongi feels a lump growing in his throat and a twinge of pain blossom in his chest when he reaches the last page and sees that you’ve left a note for him

he brushes his fingers across each word

‘to my favourite human mind model adaptive super android, m1n y00ng1: thank you for giving me the best years of my life. thank you for being my best friend. thank you for the adventure of a lifetime. i love you. yours forever, y/n.’

the note is fairly short and sweet but it still manages to make yoongi let out a choked sob

thank you for giving me the best years of my life.

you were the best thing to ever happen to him

thank you for being my best friend. thank you for the adventure of a lifetime.

you made him so immensely happy and he’s enjoyed spending his life with you because you really were the love of his life

i love you.

he loves you now and he’ll love you forever.  

he misses you.

he misses you so much it hurts

he misses the sound of your laugh and the feeling of your skin and the smell of your hair

he misses hearing you call for him when you need help with something and he misses having you scold him for not charging up overnight and instead playing video games with jungkook (it took more than a couple years but he eventually warmed up to the goofball)

yoongi’s vision is completely blurred from how many tears keep leaking out of his eyes

he reaches up to cover his face with his hands after a droplet drips down from his chin and bleeds into the paper

this is the first time he’s properly sobbed since your funeral

he kept it together for the most part but as soon as he got home and shut the door behind him he collapsed to his knees and began to cry his heart out

but of course

he knew that you always hated seeing him cry so he forced himself to get a hold of himself for as long as possible

but looking through this scrapbook that you made detailing your guys’ life together is just too much for him to bear

he holds the book to his chest and shuts his eyes before leaning his head back against the plush chair

a single tear rolls down the side of his face

yoongi misses you every day

but on your guys’ anniversary?

he can’t help but miss you a little more than usual.

[just-an-anxious-mess]

Love Is... Risky

Who wants some good and fluffy Prinxiety?

Roman always considered himself to be an expert when it came to romance and relationships. He would scoff at Logans comments about love just being chemicals and roll his eyes at Pattons squeals of it being adorable and cute.

He never seemed to hear Virgils opinion on love though, the anxious trait was rather silent during those conversations. That had intrigued him slightly and one day he knocked on his door to ask him what his take on love was.

Virgil raised an eyebrow when he saw Roman and shut the door in his face with a muttered "I've not had enough sleep for this shit."

"Virgil! Language!" Roman exclaimed then had an idea. "If you don't let me in I'll tell Patton you swore."

The door was ripped open and Virgil looked at him with narrowed eyes. "First of all don't you dare. Second since when did you resort to blackmail? Aren't you supposed to be all about honour and all that crap?"

Roman smirked "Blackmail sometimes yields better results. Can I come in now?"

Virgil groaned and stepped back to let him in. "What did you want at this ungodly early hour?"

Roman frowned at that. "It's almost midday."

"exactly." Virgil replied flopping down onto his bed with a small sigh. "Now tell me why you're bothering me quickly so I can hurry up and get back to doing something way more useful with my time. Like sleeping."

Roman gasped, mildly offended by Virgils comment but decided to ask what he'd originally come to ask. "What is your opinion on love and relationships?"

Virgils eyes widened and he was looking at Roman like he couldn't believe he'd just asked that. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"Well, I know how the others feel about it but I realised you never offered an opinion on it." Roman explained.

"oh, um, OK." Virgil said, mentally berating himself for jumping to the wrong conclusion about why Roman wanted to know.

There was an awkward pause as Roman waited for Virgil to elaborate but Virgil remained silent.

"Hey, Freak Out Boy, are you going to tell me what your opinion on love is or not?" Roman asked, making a reference to Fall Out Boy a band he remembered Virgil quite liked.

Virgil winced slightly at the nickname, he knew Roman wasn't trying to be mean but he didn't like being referred to as a freak. He pushed away his less than happy thoughts and muttered "Love is....risky."

Roman noticed the slight reaction at the nickname but didn't comment on it. Instead he asked "Would you care to elaborate?"

Virgil sighed "Well, the whole idea of love just seems so risky because you have to put yourself out there for someone who might not even like you the same way and if they don't then it'll be embarrassing. Then if they somehow do like you back you've got someone who'll pick up on any tiny embarrassing habits you have or someone who'll insist on being around you and most relationships end badly. Especially when I'm involved." Virgil mumbled the last part to himself but Roman still heard.

"surely you can see all the positive aspects of them though? The joy of knowing you have someone to turn to when you're feeling low, someone to cuddle up to while watching movies or when trying to sleep at night. Knowing that they love you no matter what and soft kisses and the not so soft kisses and..." Roman hurriedly cut himself off, clearing his throat awkwardly as he noticed he'd been starting to fantasise.

Virgil was looking at Roman and could feel his cheeks start to heat up as he listed those things and struggled to keep the image of Roman doing them out of his head. There was no way he liked Roman. None at all.

At least that's what he tried to tell himself.

"Anyway love can be risky but it is also a magnificent experience to be enjoyed by two people who want nothing more than to see the other happy." Roman summarised, a small smile working it's way onto his lips as an image of Virgils little awkward smile popped into his mind.

"I guess, but like I said there are lots of risks. How would you react if you had to confess to the person you liked right now?" Virgil said.

Roman tried to fight away a blush and replied in a neutral voice "I'd tackle it like the Prince I am and sweep them off their feet with some sort of large romantic gesture."

Virgil hummed and his eyes drifted down to his lap where he noticed he was picking at a loose thread on his ripped jeans.

He didn't want to think about what the person Roman was into looked like, he wasn't going to do that to himself. He huffed in annoyance as he realised what he'd just thought and tried to block it out.

"Really? That's hard to believe. In most real life situations a person could plan for months and then when the day came something could go wrong and ruin everything. Plus what if you go through all the trouble and they don't like you back? Then you just look like a desperate idiot who spent too much time trying to woo someone who had no interest." Virgil said, his head racing with all sorts of horrible scenarios that definitely didn't involve him confessing to Roman. Nope. Definitely not.

Roman was unsure how to respond to that for a second before he eventually said "If the romantic gesture was not appreciated by that specific person then obviously they are not the right person."

Virgil scoffed at that. "So you think that there's someone out there who's simply meant to be with you?"

Roman beamed and opened his mouth to sing Simply Meant To Be but Virgil groaned and exclaimed "Don't start! Seriously, I've had very little sleep and the last thing I want is for you to start singing."

Roman pouted but managed to refrain from singing, something he knew he wouldn't do for anyone but Virgil. "To answer your question without singing then, yes I do believe there is someone out there for me and when I find them I think I shall definitely know."

Virgil felt his eyes prickle slightly, a sign that he was tearing up, and blinked rapidly to try and force it away.

"Virgil are you OK? Is there something in your eye?" Roman suddenly asked and Virgil shook his head.

"Why were you blinking so strangely then?"

"Um... Because I'm tired. I'm struggling to stay awake because all this talk of romance and love has bored me." Virgil said, not wanting to explain the real reason.

Roman got to his feet and said "I shall go then, let you get back to your beauty sleep."

Virgil fought back a blush as he realised Roman had been sitting on his bed right next to him the whole time and almost missed Romans comment. "Yeah like that'd help." he muttered quietly before speaking louder for Roman to hear "Bye then."

Roman smiled and said "Farewell, try not to fall into a cursed slumber like Snow White."

Virgil frowned in confusion. "Why?"

"because you're the fairest of them all." Roman said with a grin and shut the door, barely hearing Virgil mutter "Someone hand me a poisoned apple."

Roman walked back to his own room, pondering the conversation he'd just had.

He thought back to when Virgil had asked what he'd do if he had to confess his feelings to someone. He had said he'd do some grand romantic gesture but he had no clue what sort thing he could do that would impress someone like Virgil.

Virgil wouldn't appreciate him creating a large scene, he hated being stared at by people for long periods of time so he wasn't going to be doing anything in front of the others. Suddenly he had a thought.

What if he invited Virgil to the imagination and created a peaceful landscape with a huge cloudless sky so that when it became night they would be able to see the stars? That was quite romantic but Roman still didn't feel like he'd got it right.

He frowned and decided to drop the topic for now, grabbing his phone and checking through his notifications.

He looked through some of his mentions on Twitter and Instagram, smiling as he noticed some prinxiety and logicality stuff. Suddenly his eyes widened as he read a comment someone had left on a screenshot from the video where he and Logan rap battled.

Logan has an appreciation for poetry? I would have thought that's more Romans thing.

He couldn't understand why he hadn't thought about it sooner. A poem would be perfect because it wasn't anything too loud and attention drawing but it would also be heartfelt and sincere enough to be seen as a grand gesture.

Now all he had to do was create the poem which was easier said than done because he had so many things to do.

Over the next few weeks Roman struggled to balance helping Logan plan things out, helping Patton with creating dreams at night, helping Thomas with his confidence and providing him with little daydreams to brighten his day and writing the poem for Virgil.

He had been running out of energy by the end and as he sat staring at the sheet of paper on his desk he let out a small groan.

He'd almost completed the poem but he didn't know how to end it. He wanted it to rhyme but he couldn't think of anything that rhymed with Virgil.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, slightly stressed out. He was just going to have to leave it and rely on his good looks and charm to keep Virgil from noticing the poem was unfinished.

He got to his feet and double checked his appearance in the mirror, doing finger guns at himself with his usual confident grin to try and prepare himself.

He then walked out of his room with a confident stride and knocked on Virgils door.

It slowly opened to reveal a sleepy looking Virgil. "What do you want?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"My apologies, I didn't realise you were asleep." Roman said, feeling guilty because he knew Virgil had trouble sleeping.

"It's all good, I probably would have just woken up from a night....uh anyway what did you want?" Virgil quickly cut himself off so he didn't say too much.

Roman guessed he was going to say nightmare but decided to overlook that for now. "I wanted to invite you to accompany me to the imagination. You'll be able to see the stars and moon really bright tonight."

Virgil frowned and took in Roman properly for the first time since opening his door, he didn't know how but Roman seemed to glow, almost like a star himself. Virgil did have an appreciation for the stars so he guessed that made sense.

Virgil was suddenly aware he'd been staring and Roman was waiting for an answer. "Um... I'll er... Get dressed then."

The door shut with a loud bang and Virgil leant against the door taking a couple breaths to stop himself from freaking out.

He pushed himself away from the door and hurriedly got changed out of the pyjamas he'd been wearing all day. He'd felt too exhausted to do much of anything all day so it was saying something that he was willing to leave his room for Roman.

Virgil shook his head at that thought. He wasn't going to dwell on those thoughts. They were ridiculous and even if they were true, which they weren't, there was no way Roman would feel the same.

Although he had invited Virgil to look at the stars with him, what if..?

Virgil groaned quietly as he threw his purple and black stitched jacket on. He wasn't even sure why he'd agreed to go with Roman, he probably could have gotten away with saying he wanted to go back to sleep.

It wasn't too late to back out. At least that's what he thought as he pulled his door open again but the sight of Romans excited grin drove all thoughts of backing out from his mind.

"Ready to go?" Roman asked unable to stop himself smiling as he took in Virgils amazing hoodie.

Virgil nodded and Roman began to lead the way to the imagination. Virgil kept sneaking glances at him, trying to work out why he'd invited him and also trying to work out why he'd actually agreed.

Roman could feel Virgils eyes on him every now and then but whenever he looked Virgil was looking the opposite direction so he was half wondering if he was just imagining it.

They started walking past a small wood and up a slope that levelled out so the ground was flat at the top.

Virgil couldn't help the gasp that left his lips as he looked up at the sky and saw the stars clearer than he'd ever seen them before.

He would have continued forward but suddenly a hand wrapped around his wrist and tugged him backwards, making him jump in surprise.

"Sorry, it's just I didn't want you to keep walking or you'd fall off the edge." Roman explained, his hand still on Virgils wrist as he gestured to what Virgil now realised was a sheer drop.

Cautiously he stepped forward and peered over and noticed a large lake below. He was very glad Roman had stopped him now.

Roman suddenly realised he was still holding Virgils wrist and felt his face heat up slightly, did he let go and apologise or keep holding until Virgil realised and then apologise or...?

Romans brain ran through a couple scenarios and he decided to just let go without saying anything.

Virgil noticed the sudden lack of warmth on his wrist and eyed Roman curiously. He felt sure Romans face had gone slightly pink although he wasn't sure why.

"So... I told you the stars would be brighter and clearer to see from here." Roman said and Virgil looked back up at the stars, his lips twitching up into a small smile that made Roman want to squeal.

Instead he sat down cross-legged and said "Come sit down."

Virgil tore his eyes away from the stars to glance at Roman only to inhale sharply, his heart thundering in his chest.

The stars were reflected in Romans already sparkling eyes and the light from the moon bathed him in a beautiful silver glow that helped give him an almost ethereal appearance.

All in all he looked like some sort of guardian angel and Virgil couldn't seem to keep his eyes off him as he slowly sat next to him.

Roman noticed the way Virgil kept looking at him and couldn't help but wonder if it was because he had something on his face or if his feelings were returned.

He had never felt so nervous before, because no matter what he'd said to Virgil before about how he'd just move on if he was rejected, he was dreading him not returning the feelings.

"Uh... Um Virgil?" he asked, cringing internally as he stumbled over his words. "I... I uh..."

Virgil looked at Roman in confusion and concern as the usually confident trait seemed to be struggling with his words. "What is it?" he asked unaware of Romans internal struggle.

Roman took a deep breath and said "I created a poem for you."

Virgils eyes widened "Really? Why?"

Roman coughed awkwardly and said "After I've recited it you'll understand."

Virgil shrugged and waited for Roman to start, while internally his mind was racing with all the possible reasons Roman had made him a poem.

Roman cleared his throat and opened his mouth to start but his eyes widened in horror. His mind was blank. He couldn't remember what he'd written.

Virgil waited and noticed the alarm on Romans face as he opened his mouth and no words came out. He frowned before he realised Roman seemed to be struggling to remember whatever poem he created.

"Roman? Have you forgotten the poem?" he asked, trying to ignore the voice in his head that said Roman was lying about making him a poem and was trying to come up with something on the spot because he'd lied.

Roman laughed almost hysterically "What? No! Of.....of course not!"

Virgil raised an eyebrow at the now flustered looking prince. "Are you sure? I think you're actually starting to blush which is odd because nothing seems to make you blush."

Roman sighed "I guess you're an exception to that, like with most things."

"What?" Virgil asked, not sure if he heard him right.

Roman went even redder "Um.... Uh... Oh fuck, I mean shit, I mean ...damn it."

Virgil let out a small chuckle. "Wow and you told me off for swearing?"

Romans face was now almost the same colour as his sash, making it very obvious that he was blushing.

"I uh... OK I did forget the poem so I've kinda got nothing right now and this wasn't supposed to happen. I'm actually.... Very unsure what to do or what to say and I knew I should have brought it with me but I was so certain I'd remember it off by heart even though I only finished it half an hour ago. This has gone wrong very quickly and uh.... Yeah I.. Uh... Ugh this is really embarrassing."

Roman rambled, his face becoming redder and his hands fidgeting frantically in his lap.

Virgil stared at Roman for a few seconds as he tried to work out what was going on and suddenly he gasped" W....wait, did you make me a poem as a.... Grand gesture?"

Roman gulped and nodded, feeling alarmed when Virgil suddenly started to cry. "Oh shit, what's wrong?" he asked in a panicked voice and became confused when Virgil let out a small teary giggle.

"Nothings wrong, I'm just... Having trouble believing this is real. I mean... You're... You. Why would you ever like me? I'm not... Not.... Good enough for someone like you."

Roman froze at Virgils words before pulling him in for a hug, his embarrassment forgotten much like he'd forgotten the poem. "You are perfect to me Virgil. I care for you more than I can even put into words and you always seem to make me do things I'd never normally do. Like when I walked in to talk to you about love and you accidentally referenced a Disney song. You asked me not to sing and if it were anyone else I would have continued but because it was you I held back. You make me blush, when nothing else can and you make me snort despite how undignified it is to do so and you even make me swear but in a good way. You cause me to remember I am not completely perfect, I do have my own faults but that's what makes us all who we are. Just like the things you think are flaws just make me love you even more."

The two of them remained in each other's arms for a long while after Romans declaration, the silence only broken by the occasional sniff from Virgil but it was a comfortable silence.

"That was probably better than any poem you could have ever created." Virgil said eventually, pulling away to look Roman in the eyes.

Roman pouted. "I'm still showing you the poem I made, I worked real hard on it."

Virgil laughed and leant forward, pressing a soft kiss on Romans pouty lips. "I look forward to it."

Romans pout turned into a large beaming smile and he muttered "I guess you were right about one thing."

"what?" Virgil asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"in the real world plans do tend to go wrong. Although it turned out alright in the end." Roman said.

"You did sound a little bit like a desperate idiot for a second too." Virgil teased and silenced Romans protests with another kiss, this one lasting longer.

Roman had a dazed happy expression on his face as he breathed "that was fucking amazing." making Virgil roll his eyes and laugh.

"can we lay here tonight and just look at the stars?" Virgil asked and Roman hesitated.

"It won't be too comfortable." he said and Virgil suddenly smirked.

"Say we can stay here tonight or I'll tell Patton you swore."

Roman made an offended noise. "You're using my own words against me?" he asked in mock horror and Virgil snickered.

"Of course, now shush so I can look at the stars in peace" he laid on his back and stared up at the stars ignoring the way Roman was looking at him.

Eventually Roman laid down too and smiled when Virgil seemed to instinctively snuggle up to him. As time went by Virgil drifted off into a peaceful sleep and Romans last thought before drifting off himself was that even though his plan had failed, he wouldn't change a thing.

General tag list: @mcfreakin-childproof-caps @amethystdarkwolf@patchworkofstars @kitkat-doodles @unikornavenger @dolphin-squirrel@sympathetic-deceit-trash @starryfirefliesbloggo @cakercanart @neonb-fly@kaymischief25 @punsterterry @aprilthevene @theoddkidnextdoor@fuckingemoace @i-sold-my-soul-to-thefandom @im-so-infinitesimal @sea-blue-child @thecatchat @iris-sanders-athena @saphael-malec102 @smedenn@corkeecoderyt @sopi-montezzz @illogicaldeath @deadpanstar@theanxiousfander @lesliealiceinwonderland @wicked-universe @anxious-is-the-name @a-black-pegasus @erlenmeyertrashofsandersides @ace-the-weekly-doodler @luarpice @novusavis @the-life-ofa-troubled-ace @heck-im-lost @nerdy-as-heck @pansexual-cat @ravens-rambling @echomist13@myownhappilyeverafter @im-a-sexy-mouse @xx-fandom-potato-xx@bisexualellaphants @redundant-statements-for-400 @noahlovescoffee @akl1@love-ya-to-the-moon @misty2-0 @cdragontogacotar @shad-ster@chemicallyimbalancedromance @ivescottthis @flag-spinning-demiboy @moonstonefox12 @stupidfangirl107 @teegankitty @stormastrote@skylerskywing @oonagh-una @ab-artist @lydialightwood-bane @ryanisshortfatandemo  

[nananaptime]

Would you do a best friends scenario with Felix where you end up kissing? Xx

Magnetism

MasterlistRules

Genre: Fluff

Word count: 1 658

Summary: You came to give him food, you both got so much more…

“Y/N?” I was pulled out of my daze by Woojin who was exiting the JYP building along with Hyunjin, Seungmin and Jeongin. “What are you doing here?” I had been standing there for quite some time, just in my own little world while I contemplated whether or not it would be a good idea to enter.

“I was thinking of paying Felix a visit, he said he’s been busy and that normally entails him not eating as well.” I gestured towards the bags by my feet which were filled with a nice home cooked meal. Woojin gave them one glance and smirked.

“Are you sure you don’t have a crush on him?” I playfully glared at him and punched him in the shoulder, not really causing much damage.

“It’s nothing like that and you know it.” I received a chuckle in response as he patted me on the head and started walking away with the youngsters following. Shaking my head, I picked up the two bags and entered the building, hoping that my best friend won’t be too much into his work so he can actually sit down and eat with me. The receptionist directed me to the fifth floor which is where the practice rooms were located. After having to endure the cheesy elevator music I finally stepped out onto the correct floor and followed the sound of music playing. It led me to the far end of the hall and I carefully opened the door to reveal a very hard working Felix, radiating of charisma as he went through the next coming showcases in his head. The fabric of his clothes floated around his body as he moved rapidly to the beat, slightly sweating and making expressions at the mirror in order to improve his stage presence. I was surprised when he didn’t notice me enter the room, especially since he should be able to see me in the mirror, but I guess he was way too concentrated to be able to focus on anything else other than his progress. He jumped as I applauded him once the music finished and he turned around to face me, a hand covering the area over his heart, trying to catch his breath from his intense dance practice. Then his face was covered with a big smile and before I knew it he jumped me with hugs.

“Felix! No, you’re covered in sweat dude, back off!” He laughed at my hysteric behaviour but let go eventually, smiling and shining as much as the sun itself. It made my heart do flips and I knew that if Woojin ever found out that his suspicions were correct, I wouldn’t hear the end of it. I abruptly pulled myself out of the trance and bent down to fish out the boxes of food. I heard Felix gasp dramatically behind me and I laughed. Maybe food is Felix’s soulmate. “I figured you haven’t eaten so I took the time to… FELIX!” He tackled me and settled on top of me on the floor, arms tightly wound around me as he hugged me for dear life.

“If you’re going to be this nice you have to expect hugs even though I’m sweaty.” His sentence was muffled thanks to him burying his face into my neck but I could make out most of what he was saying. Knowing I wouldn’t get out of this until he let me go I relaxed and let him squeeze me until he was satisfied. Finally, he rolled off of me and let me breathe, having your crush that close for that long is not good for your health let me tell you. He then helped me take everything out of the bags and put it out on the floor so we both could eat and soon enough the noodles meat and vegetables were all set out in front of us. Felix took one of the two bowls and a pair of chopsticks and started putting a bit of everything on it before handing it to me.

“Wah, I’m impressed, I expected you to dig in immediately.” He looked at me, feigning an offended expression.

“Excuse you, Y/N. I’m a gentleman, of course, I’ll give you food first.” I snorted at his statement.

“You’re a loser,” I said and poked my tongue out at him. All he could do was smile while I continued eating and If I had looked at him rather than the food I would’ve noticed the heart eyes he was unconsciously making. He noticed how obvious he was and started getting some food for himself as well, a small blush coating his cheeks but relieved nonetheless that you didn’t catch him in the act of admiration.

“Felix?” His head shot up in panic as I spoke up, thinking I felt his stare. “Are you working on something new? I’ve not seen you dance that choreography before.” He managed to calm his nerves as he scolded himself for being so paranoid around you before answering your question.

“Yeah, Minho and I have been working on some new stuff to impress JYP with since we’re not at the same level as the others yet, we still have to prove ourselves to him.” I felt bad for him, the fact that he was eliminated once must put so much pressure on him, especially when he can’t express himself fully and comfortably in Korean just yet. My admiration grew for him every day, because of his courage, his persistence and his never-ending positive attitude despite being in what couldn’t be anything other than a frustrating situation. He then perked up and smiled brightly at me. “Do you want to see it?” I nodded enthusiastically as he stood up and walked over to the other side of the room to have some space to move. He then started the music and started moving his body to the beat, taking my breath away with the way he turned into a different person, his eyes sharpened, his smile disappeared, his gaze intense as he got into the mood of the song. Three minutes later, sitting beside me again, trying to catch his breath as I couldn’t hide my impressed expression. He was smiling at me again, that happy, genuine smile which could make anyone’s day brighter and I felt myself getting lost in his eyes. I didn’t realise he’d stopped smiling but as soon as I felt his breath on my lips, I turned my head towards the food again, embarrassed and annoyed with myself that I had unconsciously leaned into my best friend, being pulled towards him like a magnet. Hoping he wouldn’t comment on it, I started eating again, slowly chewing on some meat after dipping it in the sauce and, once again, missing the look of adoration Felix was giving me.

“The dance was really good by the way, I don’t know what JYP is talking about when he says you lack stage presence,” I said as I chewed the last of my meat and swallowing, my stomach now satisfied with what I’d filled it with.

“Hey, look at me for a bit.” Slightly startled, I looked at him, my eyebrows knitted in confusion until he brought up his thumb to the corner of my lips, carefully wiping away some sauce that had gotten there while I had been eating, then he sucked it off his thumb, leaving me a flustered mess. He looked at me with big, innocent eyes. “What? You had some sauce on your lips, I just took it off.” I was still too dumbfounded to say anything but he smiled like nothing happened and kept eating.

Once the food finally was finished, Felix groaned and laid his head down on my lap as my fingers automatically started combing through his soft hair, to which he smiled appreciatively. With his eyes closed, he mumbled something about eating too much and now being in a food coma which would explain his now tired form on my lap. He started to hum a song I didn’t recognise as I kept running my fingers through his hair, enjoying the feeling of the soft strands on my skin and slightly giggling at how messed up it looked once I removed my hand. Once he stopped humming I looked down at him, assuming he had fallen asleep, and my eyes instantly got stuck on his lips. The temptation of feeling those lips on mine was starting to grow too big for me to resist and as I stared, I stopped fiddling with his hair altogether which caused him to stir and whine a bit before he settled again.

“Felix?” I asked him in a soft voice, not wanting to startle him awake.

“Hm?”

“Can I try something?” Another hm left his lips as he opened his eyes slightly before taking a deep breath and clearing his throat.

“What?” I started doubting my decision as my confidence wavered. My silence caused him to open his eyes once again and study my face. “Y/N, what is it?”

Screw it.

Before I could have the time to chicken out, I leaned down and lightly pressed my lips against his, shocking him in the process. It was planned to be a quick peck but as I pulled away, Felix face followed mine and successfully pressed his lips to mine once again when we were back to sitting in an upright position. He positioned himself so he was sitting on his knees in front of me as he cradled my face in his hands and continued moving his lips against mine. My hands found his waist as he pressed one last kiss to my lips before pulling away, not straying too far away as our noses were still touching.

Then he kissed me again, and again, and again, the feelings we’ve been so scared of showing being poured into every kiss we shared.

[booksnwaffles]

Fever Series

    So here’s the thing about my relationship with The Fever Series and what I have to say after reading High Voltage. Warning: It’s very personal and tackle the subject of Gifted Adults. 

    First thing to know is that this series of books is very close to my heart. Whether I hate one of the books or absolutely love another, they are the kind of books that never leave me indifferent.

    I first tumbled on them as I picked them up, waiting impatiently for another book that I couldn’t wait to put my hands on. I just wanted something to make me wait. Long story short, I never read that other book I was waiting for and I don’t even recall what that book was supposed to be about it or even if I ever read it later on. Instead I felt hard for Karen Marie Moning’s world. I was fourteen, and I opened the pages of a book where I could strongly identified with the characters.

   A thing to know about me is that my brain is wired differently than most people. I’m what people call a High Intellectual Potential adult, or Gifted Adult, or what experts may call us sometimes: A Zebra. The reason being that to avoid being picked on, and hurt by other people (« normal » people) we put a mask on, stop trusting our abilities and trying hard to fit in a world that doesn’t really want us in it, or simply wasn’t made for us. As you may guess this type of behaviour often leads to total disaster…

But I’ll explain why I talk about this later.

     I think the strongest asset of these books is the author. It’s her. I don’t know the details of this woman’s life, but man, when she writes words whether it’s about joy or sorrow, she’s not pretending. She knows her stuff, and if she doesn’t, she have a gigantic empathy. And she MAKE. YOU. FEEL. H A R D. She is also a reeeal badass. She’s the kind of author that won’t give you reader what you want but what the story needs and what she needs to write. Which is why for a story that talks about faë, dragon like creature, legendary weapons and all in a modern world… The story feels incredibly real.

     There was a character that I, for a very long time, hated in her story. His name: Ryodan. He was calculating, manipulative, ruthless, controling, always focused in the future, cold, angry… You know, that nice guy. I would call him the “fuckboy”. I hated him. But then I read more chapters about him, and Karen, that magnificent glittering phoenix of a writer, unravelled his facade. The character more complex that we thought, more real that we would ever dream.

    And then it hit me. The reason why I couldn’t stand Ryodan, is that for the first time in my life, a book send me back my own image. Ryodan was my fucking uncensored mirror. After that realisation I remember actually have to put the book down and take a breather. I always wanted to be a hero like Hermione Granger, Lucy Pevensie, Aragorn, MacKayla Lane, Leslie Knope… But no I was the Ryodan of my life. Your problematic fav. The cinnamon roll that could actually kill you.

    You know, people never said « Ooh, poor thing… She’s intelligent. » But the thing is: they should. It’s a fucking burden. When you are a kid people put you high up on that golden pedestal. “Isn’t that kid adorable talking like a grow up about grown up stuff… Look at what she can do ! » And then you grow up and everybody stop caring about you.

   When asking questions about it, experts or just people in general will tell you « Don’t do that, people will get angry at you », « You’re too arrogant », « Stop thinking you know better », « Aren’t you stupid », « Why are you always so cold », « Why are so angry at the world all the times » … I’m not angry, I hurt all the time. My scars run fucking deep. My brain is bigger than the world, but the world ask me to shrink my mind and spirit and to apologise for it.

I know better than you because you’ve been repeating the pattern for years. I know about it because my brain is able to pick up on human emotions faster than anyone and have an insatiable appetite for knowledge. My intelligence is instinctive and is light speed fast…

    The theme of the beast within is such an accurate metaphor that it is both profoundly disturbing and thrilling at the same time. Imagine having to hide your true self all the time, while trying to help at least your entourage to get where they need to be to get better, and being discarded all the time. Having to manipulate them so they think it is their own idea to go from point A to B, because you know point Z is not working and will never work. Being told that the way you’re reasoning is ridiculous, only to be told months or years later that you were right. People believing you’re too slow when the truth is your brain has already come up with 20 scenarios of how this situation could unfold and you’re just trying to pick the best one. Realising that when you’re five years old, that adults (like your own parents) are not perfect and don’t always know better…       That people will use you for your brain or will try to bring you down on your knees and down the sewer out of jealousy. Having ambition but being scared of voicing them because It will seem over the top, or because people will start mistrusting you for it.     You get frustrated.     But come another gift with your brain. My brain is wired that way: I have a veeeery strong personal sense of moral and justice, coupled with deeper empathy than normal people have and I’m very emotional. Like very emotional.  Meaning I feel the pain of the world all the time and I can’t look away. Ever. Which makes me vulnerable and the perfect prey for abusive and toxic people. You know how the world is… You can guess how I feel… Frustrated & Hurt.

   I won’t go on much longer about how my brains works, or even what happened to me that I turned out the way I am today. You know the saying « Sometimes bad things happened to good people ». Let’s just say that if I was a character in a story, the book would come with some serious triggers warning. Instead I will focus on High Voltage, the last instalment of this series.

  It’s not the book I wanted. Romance & cheesy stuff ? Please don’t. Characters introspective ? Nope.That kindof charcacter development ? Oh no no. People finding happiness ? I’m not ready yet.    I was not ready to read this book because I wasn’t expecting it. Because until now I didn’t knew it would describe something I always secretly wanted, never thought I would have. I didn’t want to read this book, because of how bad I actually needed it. When you have lived the things I have with a brain like mine, and you are getting pretty good at getting hurt and bottling all up and instead taking care of others, someone writing a book like High Voltage about characters that are very similar to you, it’s hard, because you’re simply not ready. Not ready to see them that vulnerable, that brave, that “light&breezy”.    You weren’t expecting it anymore, and it hurts to know that it shouldn’t be that way. But I’m smart, that’s my thing right ? So I’ll reread that book. But first, Karen,if you don’t mind, I am going to acknowledge the turd in my backyard. I have to, because here’s the thing, my “condition” is genetic, transmitted by the mother, and it turns out my little brother, is wired the same way that I am. He’s a seventeen years old supernova already suffering for shining too bright in this world. And already angry about how unfair it is to be born like us.

   Then I will go back to the book. Because I need to show him how this can be wonderful. In the real world, outside of our books, our movies, tv show, games and all, we actually get to have superpowers. Like Dani we have the ability to fly high in the sky. Like Ryodan we get to have access to the finest things in life. To be able to take care of our family like no one else. To foresee things before they might happen through our intellect and strong instinct.

   Just like Ryodan I will reign over my kingdom, while letting myself feel as deeply as I can. Be worthy of my name which one of its two meaning is “Light that shines bright in the darkness”.  

« Do no harm, but take no shit » that will be my motto.

  Today I’m grateful that I was able to read your books. That I actually found a world, in which living there would be as easy as breathing for me. I know it’s fictional, but it describes things that I know intimately. Being aknowledged, celebrated, and encouraged to be myself while being called out on my bullshit, it just feel both hard and infinitely good.

So thank you Karen for writing such books. Not just High Voltage. But each one of them. Not books I want to read, but books that needs to be.

                                                                                                                    Elona.                  

PS: If anyone who reads this happen like me to be a “Gifted Adult”, “High Intellectual Potential Adult” or else (for french people: enfants précoces, ou a forte douance…), or just concerned parents after founding that’s the way their kids are “wired” feel free to message me. I will be glad to talk about it :)

PS2: Originally post on my main blog.

[theseventhhex]

Downtown Boys Interview

Downtown Boys

Photo by Farrah Skeiky

Downtown Boys use their ferocious energy and powerhouse live shows to unite crowds in the struggle to smash racism, queer-phobia, capitalism, fascism, boredom, and all things people use to try to close our minds, eyes and hearts. The Providence, RI band’s third album, ‘Cost of Living’, is at once incendiary, cathartic, and fun, melding the band’s revolutionary ideals with boundless energy. The position of Downtown Boys has been clear since they started storming through basements and DIY spaces with their radically-minded, indefatigable rock music: they are here to topple the white-cis-het hegemony and draft a new history… We talk to Joey L DeFrancesco about recording in anxious times, Solange and men’s room mirrors…

TSH: Talk us through your intentions in wanting to discover a different type of space with the latest album ’Cost of Living’...

Joey: Well, at heart, the album is definitely a rock and punk record. We didn’t want to be too overdramatic musically, but we definitely wanted to expand our palette overall. It gets boring sticking with the same sort of sounds, so artistically we were just looking to add new colours. We just wanted more mid-tempo songs and kind of realised that we didn’t have to play everything at a million miles per-hour.

TSH: This was achieved via using keyboards and guitars to replace the saxophone in carrying the melodies, unlike your previous album...

Joey: Yeah, it was intentional in making it so the melodies in our music could be carried by different instruments like the keyboard and guitar. I think I just wanted the instrumentation to be more accessible for myself too. I kind of got sick of the saxophone carrying each melody, besides applying the keyboard and guitar allows for a different listening experience. I feel using both instruments can help listeners to pay attention for longer too, instead of having a blaring horn so high in the mix like the last record.

TSH: The album was recorded during a very tense time in the US. What was the dynamic like in the studio?

Joey: Well, we wrote the record before Trump was elected. Most of it was written in 2015, but even then there was a lot happening politically. When it came to recording the songs there was certainly a high level of anxiety, because by then Trump had been inaugurated. There were protests happening at airports regarding the Muslim ban and we were locked in the studio. As you can imagine, everything felt anxious because there were quite a few other notable issues coming to the surface from a political standpoint too. The studio dynamic was mostly tense and anxious. It was difficult to focus knowing that so much fear and anxiety was manifesting. Everything felt so debilitating.

TSH: Would you agree that the lyrics are more nuanced alongside a wider spectrum of emotions?

Joey: Yeah, absolutely. I write most of the music and Victoria will do most of the lyrics - but in the end we’ll go back and forth with it all. But yeah, we certainly had more thoughtful and stern lyrical content to consider. I guess being alive right now and dealing with the current global situation there are a lot of nuances to do with survival on a day-to-day basis and trying to keep up. It was inevitable that these factors would make their way into our lyrical content.

TSH: Tell us more about getting ‘A Wall’ to sound just right...

Joey: That song took a while to finish and went through a few versions before we settled on what’s on the record. I initially had the verses and intro to it, but the chorus wasn’t quite there. We kept bringing it to practise for weeks and trying new choruses, until we settled on the simplest one of them all. It was just too overblown at first so we settled on the simple two chords on the chorus, which was most effective.

TSH: Does ‘Violent Complicity’ take you back to specific memories in time?

Joey: Yeah, it’s very much a track that reminds me of a certain time and a bunch of different emotions. I also really like how we can perform that song live in a bunch of different ways and with different structures. It’s actually one of oldest songs on the record and the most worked on. I guess it encompasses feelings and ideas spanning a long time, since it took about a year to put it together.

TSH: When you perform live, you get to release a lot of tension and bond with the audience. Is being onstage your happy place?

Joey: I think performing is definitely our favourite part about being a band. We love playing live and connecting with people. Our first goal as a band was to have 20 minutes of songs so we could play live! Even now, this type of attitude still defines us in many ways. To play live and have fans in various countries appreciate the music is very rewarding for us.

TSH: You had a show recently cancelled in Ireland because of a hurricane...

Joey: Yeah, I totally didn’t expect that. However, we actually did get to explore more than we normally do because of the cancellation. We had a day off and just wandered around which was nice in a sense, but it was unfortunate that we didn’t get to play there.

TSH: With Downtown Boys you get to confront so many realities head on and the overriding assumption is that you can improve your way of life, as well as bring to light issues that need to be tackled...

Joey: Yeah, I think that’s kind of where the band is coming from right now. We’re not just angry and pissed off and believing that change is hard to achieve. We definitely feel we can use our platform to bring light to issues that require attention. We don’t want to fall into nihilism and hopelessness and not even be motivated to make music, even though it gets hard. When we're able to do it, it’s all coming out of a belief that we can have some sort of positive impact, however small it may be. It’s all you can do with whatever job you’re doing - believe that you can somehow make changes for the better - that’s what propels us.

TSH: I understand recently your wallet got stolen, however, on the same day Solange came to one of your shows - so it kind of balanced out for you. Was this a bittersweet day for you?

Joey: Haha! You’re getting deep now! Yeah, I guess it was. I never saw her at the show personally because we were onstage, but everyone at the back was saying that Solange indeed came to our show in New Orleans. It was a pretty surreal day. So my wallet got stolen, which is not a fun thing to happen on tour. I was constantly on the phone to the bank trying to get my debit card mailed to different addresses too. It was just a nightmare to not have an ID on tour, but I made it through in the end.

TSH: Also, it really bothers you that 60% of the time venues with men’s rooms don’t have mirrors in them, this is something you want fixed…

Joey: Ha! Yeah, so I do drag performing as another side project and I always like to get ready and look the part. Very often I end up playing these punk bars and I’m trying to do makeup to present myself in the right way, but the men’s rooms have no space, let alone any mirrors. I end up using my phone or the female restroom to get a mirror. They really should have them available since it’s a pretty easy thing to do. To me, the implication in not having mirrors says it’s not for men to do themselves up, so I hope this changes in the near future.

TSH: What brings about most happiness when you guys are on tour?

Joey: I really feel happy when someone goes out of their way to see us and has some sort of connection with our music - that makes me feel really humbled. Also, it can be stressful to tour so we do stupid stuff and come up with silly games and in-jokes to keep ourselves entertained. Humour always helps.

TSH: As a band, not a single value has been compromised - is this the type of stance that you want to maintain and hold on to?

Joey: I guess so. Also, I think we just want to reach more people, as well as wanting a small compensation for doing this full time. I think artists should be compensated accordingly - it’s only fair. And yes, you’re right; we don’t feel like we need to compromise, since we know what we need to do as workers right now. We’re lucky that we can say what we want to and that we are not commanded to express and present ourselves in certain ways. We’ve remained true to our original vision and we’ve taken every opportunity we’ve had and tried to maximise it in terms of the message that we can put out there.

Downtown Boys - “Somos Chulas (No Somos Pendejas)”

Cost of Living

[i-write-supernatural-imagines]

Request: Quiet

Request: Could you write one with dean x reader and he gets the reader pregnant but she's not quite 18 yet?

Word Count: 1,504

I suppose teenage pregnancy is a warning? If it’s going to bother you, maybe steer clear. Much love<3

You were just a week past your tenth birthday when you killed your first vampire. You’ll never forget the moment as long as you live – you weren’t supposed to follow your parents into the woods, nor were you supposed to have a weapon on you. But curiosity got the best of you, and you ended up traipsing through the undergrowth with all the stealth of an elephant.

It popped out on you – before you even had time to scream, you’d been tackled to the ground, and yet you still managed to keep hold of your knife. It was the only thing you knew – like an iron grip on its handle could keep you tethered to the Earth, protected from the razor-like fangs scraping at your throat. Your blood was nothing but adrenaline, and your thoughts were more like impulses – next thing you knew, the vampire was slumped on top of you and your father was dragging you to your feet, yelling but grinning with pride.

It’s not the moment that has imprinted on your memory so much as the fear – since that day, you vowed never to be so afraid again. Not when your parents died, not when you just barely slipped beyond the threshold of life and death, not even when Lucifer himself was stood over you. Nothing has managed to surpass that moment – until now.

“Y/N? Everything alright in there?” Dean’s voice comes from outside the pokey little bathroom, of which you’re perched on the edge of the bath that’s more like an enlarged sink.

“Fine! Just washing my face, give me a minute.” You reply, trying to keep the tremor out of your voice as you force yourself to stand on shaking legs, and shove the tiny white stick into your pocket, well-hidden from the eyes of either bother, however observant.

Dean seems to be appeased by that, much to your relief, and after a moment you hear his footsteps creaking back across the rickety floorboards. You release a breath you didn’t know you were holding, and cling to the sink for balance, as you look at your grey-tinted face in the mirror, red-rimmed eyes laden with dark circles. You known something was up, and this was a last-ditch attempt to avoid calling for an angel.

Pregnant. It hadn’t been planned – that’s for sure. You and Dean… not a mistake. That’s not what it was, what it is. But he’s older, and you’re not even eighteen yet – despite having the maturity of an adult, thanks to the life you had growing up – and you just know that he’s going to completely freak when he finds out. If. When.

For the first time in a long time, you’re genuinely fearful of what the future holds.

***

It’s quiet in the motel room, the silence broken only by the breathing of the two brothers, slept in the beds beside you – you’d crept out of Dean’s hold just a few minutes ago, a short enough amount of time that the air is still chilled on your skin, despite the hoodie you’ve huddled yourself into.

This is the easiest, and the most painless – what Dean doesn’t know isn’t going to hurt him. What the rest of the world doesn’t know won’t hurt him. You’ve survived on your own before, and you can do it again, as much as the thought tears your heart in two.

You carefully tuck your jeans into the bag, your hand ghosting over the lump of plastic in the pocket: the one that sealed your fate; that made this decision for you. After a moment of hesitation, you zip the bag up, and pull it onto your shoulder – only for Dean to shift and groan, prising one eye open and looking up at you in the darkness.

“Y/N?” He rasps, frowning – his eyes catch the reflection of the sodium orange glow outside and meet yours. You flinch, unable to hold his gaze.

“Go back to sleep, Dean. Nothing to worry about.” You try to reassure him – if you can get him to go back to sleep before he wakes fully and realises what’s going on, you still stand a chance of getting out of here without any problems.

He obviously thinks about it, then sits up a little more, “Is that your bag?”

“I was just-“

“Y/N, are you leaving?” He hisses, sparing a glance to his brother, who sleeps as soundly as ever, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing!” You hiss, “Sleep, Dean, really.”

“You can’t lie to a liar, Y/N.” He’s up and out of the bed before you can think twice, looking you over – from your hoodie to your shoes, to the absence of everything you own from where it had been discarded around the room, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” You try being authoritative, but he isn’t buying it, “I just needed some air.”

“With all your stuff?”

“Yes.” You don’t see any other way out of this, and he narrows his eyes at you.

“Alright then, we’ll go together.” He says, reaching out and taking your hand in his. After a few moments, you have to concede and admit defeat, giving a small nod and following him into the cold night air. It raises goosebumps on your skin, but you don’t let it show, remaining by Dean’s side for a few moments.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?” He asks softly after a few moments, watching you closely, “You’ve barely spoken to me or Sam in a couple of days, you wouldn’t go out with us last night, and you’re acting like hunting is the last thing in the world you want to do.”

“It is.”

“Is it some kind of… identity crisis? You don’t want to hunt anymore? You’re young, Y/N, you can get out, there’s still time.” Immediately, he begins mentally running through possibilities, ways to keep you safe once you’re gone, “You know we’re with you, whatever you-“

“It’s not that.” You interrupt, rubbing your hands over your face impatiently, “It’s going to be you wanting rid of me soon, anyway. Stop acting like the saint in all of this.”

“You know I have no idea what you’re talking about.” You can tell he’s starting to get frustrated and anxious – you don’t blame him. You just wish you’d been able to get away before he’d managed to question it.

“You don’t need an idea. You just need to let me go.” You inform him, forcing yourself to turn and meet his eyes, “I’m fine, Dean. I will be. You just need to let me leave.”

“Not until I know what’s going on with you.”

“It’s none of your business.” Yes it is, yes it is, yes it is.

“I don’t care.” He reaches out, taking your hand in both of his, “Listen to me, Y/N. These last few months… they’ve been great. You’re great. And I know it’s less than conventional, but what is?”

“Stop talking.”

“Why?! You’re acting like something horrible is about to happen!” He insists, squeezing your hand, “Y/N, please, I’m begging you here. Stop freaking me out – whatever is it, we’ll muddle through together, just like always.”

“I’m pregnant.” No point sugarcoating it – might as well let him push you away and be done with it now. He pauses, frozen by your confession for a few moments.

“Don’t joke.”

“I’m not.” You deadpan, pulling your hand away from his and folding your arms over your chest, “See? I told you, you wouldn’t like it.”

“It’s not that.” He shakes his head, “Y/N… you… you didn’t tell me. This is my business, for crying out loud. I’ve ruined your life.”

“Here you go again! Ever the martyr! It’s nothing to do with you if I say it is.” You snap, “Look, you haven’t ruined anything that wasn’t ruined anyway.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

“Why? You did.” You step back from him, “Look, Dean, if you have an issue, I’ll go. I’ll stay with Bobby until I can figure out something safe, and then… I don’t know. But I’ll figure it out.”

“You’re not going anywhere.” He growls, stepping closer, “You’re my problem, Y/N. You’re my business. I want you to be my business.” He reaches out, offering his hands to you, “Listen. Really listen. I get that this isn’t… normal. By any standard. And if you want to go, I’m not going to stop you.”

“I don’t want to. I don’t want to leave you, or Sam.” You confess, the fear returning in a great wave, “I’m scared, Dean. It’s new and scary and big and I don’t want to do it on my own.”

“You don’t have to. You never have to.” He promises, watching as you place your hands in his so be can pull you closer and press an affectionate kiss to your brow, “We’ve been in this together. Right from day one, and until you say otherwise, alright? As much as it terrifies me, I love you, and this baby… it’s just another hurdle. A hurdle we can pass, because we’re together.”

Part two maybe?

[sharistonecom]

Cosmetic Surgery For Men, Your Questions Answered.

Cosmetic Surgery and Men

It’s not uncommon for men to have looked in the mirror and realised that they really need to change some things about their looks. For some, it’s ears that are out of proportion to their heads. For others, it’s the forehead lines that are unacceptable. What about those extra waist sizes that you don’t really need? And don’t forget the jowls, and even the blotches, and who wants that receding hairline?  So sit back and read our primer on cosmetic surgery for men.

Some may consider these imperfections as trophy marks of experience that we all have. But who wants those? Many men these days are taking a new look at their physical appearance and looking to do Cosmetic surgery. The costs have come down tremendously and such plastic surgeries are more affordable than ever before. Nevertheless, it’s a fair price to improve our looks. 

According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, the number of men who currently turn to plastic surgery is at 10% in the UK. Though this seems to be a smaller number considering the availability and affordability of plastic surgery, this number shows the significant number of people who have the desire to have a little “work” done on themselves.

It can be seen that people currently prefer to enhance what they already have or to make minor tweaks, and thereby are moving away from the radical treatment where something is built out of scratch.

It is indisputable that with the increasing competition in the workplace, men nowadays have an increasing desire to look good for their age. Suggesting that more middle aged men want surgeries to be done on their eyelids and removing fat from the chest area is more common among younger men.

As you may be thinking of getting plastic surgery done, it’s best to get sufficient information to make wise decisions. Industry leaders have given us the basic facts that you need to know as you consider making this important decision. Here below, we’ll give you a basic idea of procedures, costs, and some of what you can expect as a result of the surgery. 

What Should You Know Before Starting?

Cosmetic procedure in itself is risky. Even the smallest enhancement to the most drastic procedure, they all are risky. Therefore before you even think about any sort of cosmetic surgery for men you should do your research and also consult a professional or a surgeon in this line of work.

Save Face, the national register for the professionals that carry out fillers and botox, shows us that there has been a spike in the number of complaints that they are receiving from the botched procedures. They’ve started a campaign to tackle these complaints against the failed procedures.

Here are two factors you need to know if you are considering getting your surgery done. The cost of making changes if you are not happy with the results of the surgery along with the number of years or the experience of the surgeon.

Increasingly there are more people considering getting their surgeries or treatments done overseas, especially hair transplants. Some of the commonly sought after countries are India and Turkey. Though the percentage of people seeking to get their procedures done overseas have increased at about 150 per cent, it is highly important for you to consider and thoroughly think about your aftercare requirements.  This is as vital for cosmetic surgery for men as it is for women.

Common Procedures

Rhinoplasty (Nose Job)

In the UK there are over a thousand Rhinoplasty or nose job surgeries that take place. We also see a trend where this is getting more and more common among men in the UK.

Why Get it Done?

There are many reasons for why men seek Rhinoplasty or nosejobs. They vary from being unhappy with the way their nose is, to wanting to correct their broken nose which happened because of an accident or in particular a sports accident. 

How Does it Work ?

This is one of the most straightforward surgeries that leaves no scars behind. This is because the surgery is done inside the nose through which they access the bones or the cartilages. The surgeon usually adds a tissue or removes a part of the bone or cartilage to give it a new shape or structure. This cosmetic surgery for men can change the overall size and shape of the nose. 

This is a short surgery that lasts typically for two hours. This also requires local anesthesia and an overnight stay in the hospital following the surgery. Though this is a short procedure that yields good results, the effects of the surgery can linger on.

Any bruising that occurs from the surgery differs from each individual, for some it will last about 10 days and some might only experience mild redness following the surgery. Apart from all this, it might take up to a year to see the final results of the surgery.

The cost of the surgery can vary depending upon where you chose to do it at and also the exact procedure that you require, but the cost can be anywhere from £3,500- £6,000.

Hair Transplant

With former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney talking about his experience with the surgery, hair transplant surgery suddenly became popular. It was later understood that about 40% of the men under 35 that have receding hairline, the market for this surgery has increased more so than ever. Dr. Medispa clinic in London, Essex accounts for conducting about 700 procedures every year.

Why Do I Need it? 

While there are a number of individuals who are able to accept or embrace the changes in their appearance, there are many who seek for hair transplant. And one of the most common reasons why there are more people who opt for this surgery is because some experience a blow at their self-esteem. Many who have undergone this surgery have also accounted for a boost in their self esteem following the surgery. 

How? is it Done?

The most common form of the hair transplant treatment is the Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE). One of the reasons why this is popular is because it is not as tedious as the previously used methods. In this procedure, hair is removed from the back or side of your head and is implanted usually at the required area. This was the procedure opted by Wayne Rooney. 

This surgery requires local anesthesia and takes approximately 8 hours. This is most commonly priced at about £10,000. Dr. Raghu Reddy from The Private Clinic of Harley Street says that this procedure is rather simple as it lacks any major invasion and therefore does not leave a scar behind. 

Because the amount of hair loss corresponds with the amount of money that is spent on the treatment, Reddy suggests that it is wise to seek treatment for hair loss before it is too late as this can cost you more than is necessary. 

It is also important to understand that one procedure will not erase the problem of hair loss that one is facing. For a person with a predisposition towards hair loss, multiple procedures are required as time passes. We also know Rooney has currently undergone two treatments. But if you want to look younger then this is a cosmetic surgery for men that you can certainly consider.

Beard Transplant

Once the craze for hipster beards came in, it was a period of great melancholy to those men who were not able to keep up with this fashion. Therefore we see that the popularity of facial hair and the value associated with it has set the beard transplant procedure on an increasing trajectory of popularity. 

In 2014 WhatClinic.com polls showed us that the enquiries about a beard transplant rose to about 72%. It was also seen that along with this, there was a 21% growth in enquiries about pubic hair transplant.  Our own research at bestcosmeticsurgeons.com reinforce the growing popularity of this treatment.

Why?

One of the reasons why this procedure became more popular over time is because it is a long term fix. You can choose for a transplant if you do not have any facial hair, or if you have a little fuzz and want a thickened beard.

How Does it Work?

This procedure is similar to the Follicular Unit Extraction where hair is extracted from the back of the head or from the body and planted to another area where they need it the most. It has been estimated that for a full beard an individual would require about 4,000 transplants and for a goatee one would require about 1,500 transplants. This transplant is not only time consuming, it is also expensive as it can cost anywhere from  £3,000 to  £ 6,000. The final results of the procedure will take several months to show and it will look as real as possible with the least scarring. 

As a ‘beardie’ myself I would point out that maintenance is an ongoing ost and cool high st salons will take $30.00 for a beard trim.

Liposuction and the Fat Free Dream

The popularity of this procedure comes from the fact that, there is some fat in your body that acts as a cover over the muscle thereby stopping you from having the body that you have been dreaming of and working for. This procedure is aimed at hitting the fat that you find hard to shred even with the strictest training and diet.   So if you want that perfect shop window for your six pack then liposuction should be on your todo list.

How Does it Work?

In this procedure, the stubborn fat that you wish to get rid off is sucked out of your body using a tube.  Our recent article on the topic will give you masses of detail and ideal locations for a bit of fancy tourism whilst the surgeon does his stuff.

Liposuction is a gentle, less invasive procedure that can be used to remove fat from specific regions like neck, chin and abdomen. In this procedure, fat is broken up by using ultrasound which also ensures that the tissue surrounding this area is not damaged. Local anaesthesia is given in order to remove the fat from a small tube and mostly takes less than an hour for this procedure.

Since this process removes fat by leaving the surrounding tissues intact, the skin in that area tends to retract to its original state after the procedure leaving less pain and bruising which is commonly associated with fat removal.

Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery)

This procedure is commonly done among men in their middle age to get rid of the droopy eyes or the baggy eyes.  You can try to cover up the bags with male cosmetics but at a moment you will realise that a little delicate surgery might be required.   We have written in depth on the topic as blepharoplasty  is a very popular cosmetic procedure and amazing techniques have been developed to cater for the fashion amongst Asian clients to ‘westernise’ their eyelids.  This wealth of experience should enable you to find a great surgeon to do the work for you. 

What Can it achieve?

The eyelids are notorious for giving men an ageing look. So think of it a a total refresh for your look that will help you shed years from your face.

It approximately takes about one to three hours with a recovery window of one week and can cost anywhere from  £3,000 and above.

However, if the tired appearance is because of the overall features of the face like dark circles, sunken cheeks, loss of the jawline, etc. then the Blepharoplasty alone will not fix the issue. we suggest that these individuals should seek treatment that will help in lifting and tightening the whole face and eyes. 

Otoplasty (Ear Pinning)

Ear correction or otoplasty is now a popular procedure among men in Britain as there is about 1 in 20 men that cannot ignore the fact that their ears are sticking out. This is a relatively simple procedure through which the cartilage at the back of the ear is re-shaped and put in a position where it will be closer to the head. 

Should I Get it Done?

Two of the most common reasons why men are now considering otoplasty is because either they want to correct the effects of an accident, or they are not happy with the position that their ear is sitting, or the shape of their ears.  There are, of course, famous people such as Prince Charles who live very happily with sick out ears.  Our article on Otoplasty will give you very specific details and also our recommended clinics and surgeons.

How?

A small incision is made at the back of the ear, in a place where scarring would be less visible. through this incision, the exposed cartilage is trimmed and given a new shape so that it can assume a new normal position.

This procedure is normally done within an hour and requires local anesthesia and can cost anywhere from £3,500 above. Though this procedure yields good results, over time the results may change because of the inherent change in the cartilage.

One of the downsides of this procedure is that wearing a headband for a week is a must and therefore make sure that you have enough holiday time owing you to avoid going to work looking like that.

Botox  and ‘Baby Botox’

Botox has been an available cosmetic surgery for men since 2002. It effectively removes the lines that age brings to our skin. Now 20 years on, it is still considered as an effective procedure to tackle the effects of age on our skin.   

Is it For Me?

This surgery has become highly popularised in the tabloid and celebrity press in recent years where famous TV stars such as Simon Cowell have used Botox to stay looking youthful in front of the cameras.

How?

Using a toxin that is used to cause paralysis to reduce the lines and wrinkles on one’s face might sound absurd to us, this is known to yield great results. In this procedure, botox blocks the signals between the nerve and the muscle thereby not allowing the muscle to contract and making the frown lines less obvious than otherwise.

One of the reasons why this procedure has gained a lot of popularity is because this does not require anaesthesia and the downtime after the procedure is less compared to other cosmetic procedures.

It takes about 3 to 7 days to see the full results and headaches may occur within 24-48 hours. The cost of each session can range from about  £150 to £350 and the effects of botox lasts for about 4 to 6 months and therefore can become an expensive look to maintain.   For a more subtle look without the risk of a ‘frozen’ expression you could also consider a more diluted for of the toxin marketed as ‘baby botox’. 

Botulinum Toxin (Excessive Sweating Treatment) (a ‘Prince Andrew’)

The scientific name for Botox is Botulinum and is used to smooth out the lines on one’s face as well as to block the sweat glands of a person suffering from Hyperhidrosis also known as excessive sweating. There are about 3 percent of the UK population that suffer from excessive sweating.  I am going to put my head and journalistic reputation on the line and predict that this treatment will soon be called  ‘having a Prince Andrew’ after Andrew’s rather dodgy comments on his inability to sweat due to traumatic shock.

What Else Can I try?

For those struggling with Hyperhidrosis, the doctor usually suggests lifestyle changes like using leather shoes or even using deodorant with aluminium chloride. If these lifestyle changes do not improve their condition, then the doctor suggests that they get Botulinum injections. 

How Does it work?

Botox is used to block the signals from passing from the nerve to the muscle, Botulinum similarly is used to block any over-stimulative communication that happens between the brain and the sweat glands in the body. Usual areas of excessive sweating are armpits, feet and hands, but for some it might also be their back and forehead.

The procedure usually lasts about 30 to 40 minutes and the number of injections given in the affected area vary depending on the severity of the conditions. As many as 20 injections or more are given in the area of need. The results from this procedure last for several months.   I will interested to check and see if any of the clinics offering this service show a royal warrant on their websites.

Gynaecomastia Surgery (Male Breast Reduction)

A flabby chest is not pleasing to the eye especially if you are someone that loves wearing t-shirts. The factors that contribute to this are not just the lack of an effective diet or exercise, but breast-boosting hormones do also account for this.  This operation is a standard offering on all cosmetic surgery websites since breast operations are a very popular and well practised procedure for women.   Expertise in male breast surgery has also developed considerably with MTF  (male to female) and FTM (female to male) gender transitions.  Reducing ‘moobs’ is very popular for men who are gym enthusiasts who have also dabbled in hormone drugs which have annoying side effects

How Does it Work?

The Gynaecomastia Surgery is the best solution for those who are looking to remove the excess breast tissue that is stopping them from getting their chiselled chest. 

The BAAPS shows us that there was a 13 per cent hike in the breast reduction surgery in 2015. 

 In this procedure tissue is removed from the breast or chest area and is usually transferred to other parts of the body like ones biceps and triceps.

Typically, an incision is made around the areola, through which the excess fatty tissues are removed. Liposuction can be used in this process if there is a large amount of fat that has to be removed, along with this, the nipples will be repositioned if there is a need for it. 

Once the surgery is done, you would need a full week’s rest where you should not lift weights and hold off from any chest exercises for a month. It is also recommended that you take a week off from your work. 

Sexual Enhancement Surgery for Men

No article on male cosmetic surgery for men would be complete without a visit to the ‘trouser department’ where miracles are said to work.   The jury is still out on what can be achieved but there has been some success with Penuma which is the only penis enlargement surgery cleared for commercial use under the Food and Drug Administration’s regulations.  The device is FDA-cleared for cosmetic enhancement.  So does it work?  can Penuma give a man a larger penis?

How does it Work?

The Penuma is a crescent-shaped piece of medical-grade silicone inserted under your penis skin to make your penis longer and wider. It’s provided in three sizes: large, extra-large, and extra-extra-large.

The tissues that give your penis its shape are composed largely of two types:

Corpus cavernosa: two cylindrical pieces of tissue that run parallel to each other along the top of your penis

Corpus spongiosum: one cylindrical piece of tissue that runs along the bottom of your penis and surrounds your urethra, where urine comes out

Your Penuma device will be designed to fit your specific penis shape. It’s inserted into your shaft over the corpus cavernosa, like a sheath.

This is done through an incision in your groin area just above the base of your penis. The device stretches the penis skin and tissues to make your penis look and feel larger.

How Much Does it Cost and Where Can I get it ?

The procedure has an out-of-pocket cost of about $15,000 with an upfront $1,000 deposit.  Which makes it a costly cosmetic surgery for men but I do not imagine that will put some people off.  Penuma is currently not covered by insurance, and not cleared to treat erectile dysfunction.

James Elist, MD, FACS, FICS, of Beverly Hills, California, founded the procedure. He’s currently one of the only two certified practitioners.

So if you are going to increase your natural endowment you will probably want the whole area to look at its best and if the scrotum is looking rather dishevelled you might be a candidate for a Scrotoplasty.   So how does that happen then?

This might be a cosmetic surgery for men  that many of us have not heard much about. This isn’t some kind of hoax, but rather a significant surgery for men who are concerned about their slack scrotums. These are not necessarily the same guys who go for ‘sack and crack’ waxing at the spa but also those who have had cancer in that region and want to it to be more aesthetically pleasing. 

In this procedure excess skin is taken out from the scrotum, following which the muscles are rejoined at the seam area to reduce the scarring from scrotoplasty.

This procedure takes around 90 minutes and the patients are most likely able to leave the clinic the same day which is also accounted for by the local anaesthesia that is given.  

There is no concrete data regarding the use of this procedure by men, but it is understood that it is almost the same as women who seek labial reduction through surgery. It was also seen that in the year 2016 the enquiries about this procedure had increased about 169 percent.

So there we are then, a primer on what is available for the male of the species to look his best from the top of his head to the ‘jewels in his crown’.

  The post Cosmetic Surgery For Men, Your Questions Answered. appeared first on Best Cosmetic Surgeons.

source https://bestcosmeticsurgeons.com/cosmetic-surgery-for-men-your-questions-answered/ source https://bestcosmeticsurgeons.tumblr.com/post/623111193098436608

[anneedmonsonus]

Spring Cleaning Tips with Max Kater – and WIN an Epic Murchison-Hume Prize Pack!

If you’re like most people, the very mention of the words “spring cleaning” makes you want to dive under the covers and hope for six more weeks of winter. Decluttering, doing a deep clean of your whole house, knocking off all those cobwebs to get your outdoor area ready for the warmer weather… we all know spring cleaning is a great idea, a fresh start to welcome the warmer weather (and discover horrible half-eaten apples left under the sofa by the baby, as I did the other day) but getting it done isn’t always so fun. However, you CAN make spring cleaning much more bearable, and today I’m sharing the tips of none other than green cleaning products expert and Murchison-Hume founder and CEO, Max Kater, a mother of two.

A little Murchison-Hume in our laundry.

Murchison-Hume CEO Max Kater.

When I think of Max Kater, I have in mind the ‘original’ green cleaning products mastermind. She was onto this stuff LONG before most people were even aware that a ton of commercial cleaning products can have chemical nasties in them. She actually started Murchison-Hume when she realised that her youngest son had inherited her allergic sensitivities to common cleaning and bath products. His skin would react even to the products on the market that were labelled “eco-friendly”.

The crux came when Max pulled Charlie out of the bath she had just cleaned one day – his poor skin was red from the waist down, exactly on the water line. Max vowed to find a safe, plant-based cleaning product that worked, and when she didn’t, she decided to make her own!

Like many people who start a hugely successful business, it all began when Max saw a niche, and since its conception in 2011, Murchison-Hume is a massive company with an library of incredible safe, plant-based products, and they’ve expanded to the U.S, where Max and her family are now based.

If you follow my Instagram or have even just seen a few of our room makeovers on this blog; you might have picked up on my love for Murchison-Hume’s very pretty amber-tinted bottles. These are cleaning and beauty products that look so nice you actually don’t mind leaving their iconic brown bottles out on display – they make your room look better!

Picture by @caro_kmartin.

You want Paw Patrol? You know the drill.

But better yet their products actually work, and they smell good enough to drink (but don’t, even though they’re made from non-toxic ingredients). Our laundry cupboard is full of Murchison-Hume products, and even our four-year-old son uses them – he loves to wipe down the benchtops and cupboards for me with his rag and the Counter Intelligence Spray. And because the products are non-toxic, I feel a little less guilty about the child slavery being practised in this house. (I’m KIDDING. I never felt guilty in the first place). But seriously, I think it’s good to try to get kids involved with chores when they’re little, and he loves that I let him use a specific ‘grown-up’ cleaning product. (We have a rule in my house – he is sometimes allowed to have screen time while the baby has her nap, but he has to clean up first – it’s a win-win!)

I have also always liked the Murchsion Hume company ethos. Their products are 100% cruelty-free, palm oil free (you can read about their ingredients on their site – they’re very transparent – and their containers are made from glass and recyclable PET plastic, with many products designed to be refilled and reused. The products make nice gift ideas. And the MH team are really nice people to boot! I’m a fan.

So, back to spring cleaning. “A good seasonal deep clean and clear-out gives back in countless ways that actually make your life better,” says Max. “But the hardest part is knowing where to start.” So today she’s sharing her easy-to-follow tips to help you navigate your seasonal cull and clean. “You can get it all done without getting overwhelmed and at the end you’ll be rewarded with a happier, healthier and more stress-free home,” she says.

AND if you need the perfect dose of motivation, Murchison-Hume are very generously giving one lucky House Nerd the most epic spring cleaning prize pack!

You can score every single MH product pictured here – make sure you check it out at the end of the post. I can guarantee that even the most reluctant cleaner won’t mind doing some cleaning when it’s with products that smell as amazing as these!

TIPS FOR EASY SPRING CLEANING – FROM MURCHISON-HUME CEO MAX KATER

1. Step one. Get your cleaning kit together. Everyone knows that a job is easier when you have the right tools. We recommend our Clean Starter Kit plus some specialty cleaners for furniture and stainless steel. A few good brushes, mops and lint-free cleaning cloths will help too.

Try and keep everything together in an organised cleaning caddy. You might like to make it easy on yourself by keeping a small one under every sink, so you can easily maintain it and don’t have to lug one around all the time. (Murchison-Hume also have these great bamboo caddies – I have one under my laundry sink – Maya).

2. Now. Let’s set the mood. We highly recommend cleaning to music. It just makes everything more fun and feel less like hard work!

Photo by Amy Bartlam. Design by Jennifer Muirhead Interiors.

3. Tackle the big jobs first, that means windows. The thing about windows is that you don’t really see them…you feel them. Once they are done, everything looks brighter, more cheerful and just…better. If possible, choose a cloudy day (or early morning) to tackle the windows, as a hot sun can dry them faster than you can, leaving those nasty streaks. Once you are inside you can take it room by room.

4. Work from top to bottom. Start with a general tidy up. Open the windows. Even if it’s chilly outside, all rooms benefit from a blast of fresh air! Bang cushions together and drag them outside if it’s sunny. Vacuum under the sofas and move things around. It’s amazing where dust can accumulate! You should be good and warm by now.

5. Dusting down: Once the cushions have had a good vacuum and airing, spritz all the surfaces with our Furniture & Upholstery Cleaner and wipe them down with a clean, lint-free towel.

After dusting, it’s time to strip the beds completely bare and let the mattresses and pillows breathe a bit. You can use our furniture cleaner on them too, just let air dry before making them again. It’s a good idea to have at least two of everything for each bed (including mattress & pillow protectors) so there is always one set ready for service while the other is being laundered.

6. Scrub your surfaces. The kitchen and bathrooms will be your biggest challenge (but also your biggest pay-off area). Start by removing all of the towels and throwing them in the laundry. Carefully remove everything off the counters and give them all a good scrub.

7. De-clutter. If like us you have zero patience for trying to find something you need, your favourite seasonal activity will be re-organising the drawers & cupboards. Throw out all the half-empty shampoo bottles and out of date medications.

Check the junk and utility drawers and toss out dried up pens, used batteries and all of the assorted stuff that’s clogging your life.

Finish with the mirrors and stainless surfaces. Once your reflective surfaces are good and gleaming, you are nearly done. (The Murchison Hume team – and I – loved the Marie Kondo show Tidying Up on Netflix – make sure you check it out if you’re after some decluttering motivation! You won’t be able to help yourself).

From @donnaguylerdesign.

8. Do the floors last. Dirty floors, like dirty windows aren’t immediately obvious, but you really do feel the difference when they are clean! For the best results, you’ll want to sweep or vacuum first before mopping.

Please don’t make the rookie mistake of boxing yourself into a corner. Clear the floor as much as possible by removing small furniture, trashcans, and rugs before you start. Work from the farthest corner to your exit.

We don’t even bother with a traditional sponge mops anymore. A good floor cleaner in a trigger spray mop is much easier and faster than traditional mopping.

Make yourself a hot cup of tea and leave it just outside the room you are working in. You’ll be done before it cools.

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9. Stand back and admire your handiwork. Reward yourself with a nice hot bath or shower and your skin will be glowing from your exertions!

Now that you’re done, the house will be clean and fresh and so much more comfortable. Happy Spring!

  WIN! The Ulimate Murchison-Hume Spring Cleaning Prize Pack

To get one lucky House Nerd in a spring cleaning mood, Murchison Hume are kindly giving away the most amazing army of their cleaning products. One lucky nerd will score all of these beautiful products for their home.

Win all the products pictured here!

Classic Six Set

• Bamboo Caddy (RRP $30) • 500ml Boys’ Bathroom Cleaner (Original Fig – RRP $14) • 500ml Premium Glass & Mirror Polish (Original Fig – RRP $14) • 500ml Spit & Polish Stainless Steel Cleaner (Original Fig – RRP $14) • 500ml Everyday Furniture & Upholstery Cleaner (Original Fig – RRP $14) • 500ml Counter Intelligence All-Surface Spray (Original Fig – RRP $14) • 500ml Effortless Floor Cleaner (Original Fig – RRP $14)

For The Kitchen

• Porcelain Tray (RRP $20) • Signature Amber Glass Bottle Heirloom Dish Soap (Australian White Grapefruit – RRP $40) • Superlative Hand Soap (Japanese Quince – RRP $20) • Velvet Glove Hand Cream (Japanese Quince – RRP $25)

For The Laundry

• Porcelain Tray (RRP $20) • Everything Laundry Soap (Basil | Mandarin | Kale – $RRP $25) • Garment Groom (Australian White Grapefruit – RRP $14) • Porcelain Laundry Cup (RRP $15)

You can enter in one of three easy ways:

If you’re entering on Instagram:

Follow House Nerd @housenerd and Murchison-Hume @murchisonhume and tag a friend for entry. One friend, one entry, five friends, five entries… you get the idea.

If you’re entering on Facebook:

Follow House Nerd @housenerd and Murchison-Hume @murchisonhume and tag a friend for entry. One friend, one entry, five friends, five entries.

OR just leave a comment with your own cleaning or decluttering tip on this blog post with your full name (and don’t forget to include your email address, which stays private).

Winner drawn Friday 18th October and notified by email. Entry open to residents of Australian only. Good luck! Maya x

The post Spring Cleaning Tips with Max Kater – and WIN an Epic Murchison-Hume Prize Pack! appeared first on House Nerd.

from Home Improvement https://house-nerd.com/2019/10/06/spring-cleaning-murchison-hume-win/