#oh maybe i should add that i started this book like 8 years ago...

[liloify]

i really do love Emmas’ suggestion for Rhaenyra and Mysaria to kiss bc I feel like it does add some nuance to the scene that’s only gonna make this season all the more entangled

I don’t like the argument that “oh when Rhaenyra was young she didn’t like goose(pussy)”, like that was ten years ago, that is a whole decade, and these aren’t books so we don’t exactly get a look into her mind in the form of italics, or a shortened retelling of something that made her realize, “ykw, goose isn’t that bad.” or even more likely, RHAENYRA IS STARVED.

1. Imagine a war being fought that’s all about your inheritance, the inheritance that your father literally upheld to his LAST BREATH, and everyone is acting like you have nothing to do with it aside from being a visual for the cause.

2. Your husband/uncle (aka, the closest older male relative you have now) is in harrenhal tripping off weirwood leaves and a thirst for power

3. Your oldest child starts undermining you

and all this whilst still processing the death of your father, your son, your daughter and now your cousin who was technically your Aunt anyway bc she was old as hell.

Rhaenyra is not only feeling powerless but now she feels unneeded, useless, she doesn’t feel like she has control in a war that was only started because nobody listened to her in the first place when she said she is the rightful ruler of the seven kingdoms. And don’t come under my post talking about, “WELL THE BOOKS SAID—“ the books are literally being retold through someone, an unreliable narrator, and I thought we all knew by now that GOT/HOTD doesn’t follow the books to the T.

Should they in some cases? yes, absolutely, but this is TV, it still has to be entertaining to an extent, it still has to be easy for the audience to follow to an extent.

Why would any of you think after 8 seasons of reinventing and in S7 and S8’s cases, just inventing in general, that they would follow the books exactly in the prequel series? Why would yall think that in season 2 they would suddenly start following the books??

If you don’t like the changes, don’t watch it, simple. stop going under posts and being like “it was fan service by the writers!!!” “it’s woke propaganda!!!” nigga this is a show about incest and dragons what the fuck could be woke about THAT??

I love the decision because it really does show just how starved Rhaenyra is for anything at this point, her husband is gone, she’s lacking physical intimacy. Rhaenys is dead, she’s lacking a female confidant. Even Sonoya says that they BOTH needed someone at that point, it wasn’t about manipulation, it was about two women who had been groomed, assaulted, underminded and alone finding comfort in each other.

Mysaria was already a confidant for Rhaenyra, and had she won the war, she probably would’ve been elevated any way. Why would Mysaria, who is so closed off about herself suddenly decide, “you know what, I should tell her this brutal story about my father abusing me because maybe she’ll elevate me right now.” With what kingdom??

I understand y’all don’t like the fact that the show strays from the books, and I understand that the Rhaesaria kiss came out of ‘nowhere’, but y’all keep looking at this face value. Yeah, they never really hinted at Mysaria or Rhaenyra liking women after season 1, but they did make it very very clear that the two are alone, and right now they feel like they only have each other. The kiss doesn’t have to go anywhere but it does make sense for it to have happened, in the heat of an emotional connection, they kiss because theyve both been lacking physical intimacy for so long that it just happens.

It’s not propaganda, Rhaenyra and Mysaria are two lonely women and the kiss made sense from an emotional standpoint, if you have an issue don’t get mad at me bc 1. it’s not my show??? and 2. theyve done gay shit before (laenor, renly, loras, oberyn, yara, ellaria) so be mad at the showrunners for allowing it.

[nalyra-dreaming]

im sweating no one has asked it yet. i have been sitting on an ask for a while that suddenly seems a lot more plausible and therefore worthy of asking. I also have a couple of things that caught my attention.

1785 refering to nicolas and lestat joining the theatre makes a lot of sense. I mean what else can go there? Nothing. Non of the characters (in the show) have anything important happen around that time. Plus it makes sense for lestat to rise through the ranks of the theatre over the course of years instead of several months.

!!!if nicki is there he needs to be cast which means we also meet him way before we thought we would. !! Also that might mean that the other unexpected character from the vc is Nicki!

This also means that the books are a lot more condensed than we originally thought. And if the joining of the theatre is in s2 what from tvl will they add as well and what will they leave for a comprehensive tvl 3rd season? Tho i have to say that it would make sense to put tvl partially in another season because i just cant see how you can properly adapt that book to only 8 40min episodes, there is just too much happening.

Uhhm more chaotic thoughts......

Oh yes! That ask i had been sitting on.

2. so about a week or so ago i was doing some writing and suddenly i had this thought. You know how we have been speculating that dubai is in the merric era and that lestat maybe in a coma in another room? And how we will find this out at the end, which then leads us into s3? Like they show us unconcious lestat and fade out? Yeah what if they open with it tho. What if the first episode starts on a shot of Lestat, in dubai, unconcious. Actually this makes no sense cause that would ruin louis further narrative before daniel has even gotten his hands on it. And like it would have been sort of hinted in the synposis right with "with the apperance of an unexpected factor" or something vague like that? The reason im telling you this anyway is because; how can there be flashbacks from lestat if he, or some representation of him isnt there? Did he write diaries too? We know there was a paragraph of the wolfkiller in one of the claudia diaries. I think someone had discovered that in a frame back in november or something. I dont quite remember and i couldnt find it upon rewatching, but maybe i should pay closer attention.

3. I also realised we know quite some things about lestats timeline already. I dont know if anyone has mentioned this already. So i had been rewatching episode three, the bit where lestat offers the tickets to 'donazettis comic masterpiece' the opera i dont remeber the name of. He describes having met donazetti and having seen the premier 73 years ago in Salle Ventadour. Salle Ventadour is in Paris, 1917-73= 1844 which means he was a vampire and hasnt left paris yet. Is this takingplace in lestats era before turning nicky where he is going to all these society events as gentleman death and meets armand? No obviously not, that would make nicky 60ish by the time he is turned. So its after, its probably in that time just before he decides to go seek marius. The time in which nicky, post vamp transformation grows to resent and distance himself from lestat even more. What if lestat tries to distract himself from his nicki who is getting more and more antagonistic as the years, in this case , go by, by going to operas and stuff? It would make sense for lastat to hold hope for a long time, to endure for a long time (you saw how fast time started passing in season 1 as soon as the vampirism hit) It would also make sense for lestat to take decades to find marius. So timeline!!

1760= lestat born >(lestat gets the green pendent form the marquise)> 1884ish 24 yo= nicky and lestat run away to paris (maybe the wolfkiller happens in the same year) >> 1785 25yo=nicky and lestat join the theatre >> 1794 (middle of the french revolution, girls(gn) what a time to be turned into a vampire)= lestat is kidnaped and turned into a vamprire, im not actually sure they are going to show that in too much detail as they have already talked about it. > i think gabrielle gets turned before the FRev ends and nicky between 1800 and 1810, that would make 1 century before Louis > 1844= lestat sees the premier of DON PASQUALE DONIZETTIS COMIC MASTERPIECE, i remember! Nicki is turned, but lestat is not out of paris so nicki is not dead yet.> between 1844 and 1909/10 there is a fallout with nicki, lestat leaves paris, looks for marius, nicki dies, marius is found, those who mist be kept, lestat goes to america in very old clothes that he doesnt bother to change until louis tells him to. (If not for his father why does lestat go to america here?)>>1910=lestat arrives in new orleans.

That was all i have for today, damn, i hope that made some sense:) And I hope you have a nice day!!

Yes!! You made sense, I just answered an ask also theorizing in regards to the changed structure (but I didn't combine them because would have been too long^^ and also:)

1785 also marks the point in time where Armand would have needed to vacate Les Innocents with his coven, since the bones were relocated to the catacombs in 1786. That must have been quite the change for him - no matter how it happens, and it changes some of the story of The Vampire Lestat already!

The "mistake" (what they called it but while that may be true I don't know if I should believe them^^) of the diary entry being part of Lestat's story is in episode 4, where Daniel thumbs through one of the diaries. It could be used to give us a part of Lestat's story, yes, but... you know, I bet we will see Lestat in a coma towards the end of the season, and I could easily see it beeing Armand who is taking Daniel there to show him - and Louis might use that moment to try to kill himself. (I would love that. Can you imagine Armand being with Lestat down there and slowly realizing what's happening, and then Lestat's eyes opening?????? PLEASE^^)

Yes, I also was thinking about that the other day, but you are totally correct, and I haven't seen much about this either. >> As you correctly point out the remark to the premier is particularly interesting. The date of said premier was January 3rd 1843. It has already been theorized that Lestat's turning was likely during the Reign of Terror, as he himself said he was turned in 1794. For him to be staying in Paris for such a long time after the turning... that is quite the change. (If we take it as him staying, rather than him returning at some point, which is also possible I suppose) the ties must have been very strong. What if... what if Nicolas actually was successful, too, and then couldn't be anymore since he became a vampire, too. And yes, Nicolas must've been turned (just) prior to 1810 (if we take the 100 years literally) and after Gabrielle, but that still makes a few years in which he would have mourned Lestat?! Which makes me also think the relationship between them will actually be portrayed as even deeper. What if there is an echo to what is happening to Louis later... what if there is more to Nicolas' depression than we thought? And also... I think for me it all depends a bit on where Armand was during that time. What if Armand went back to Rome for a bit? The Roman coven is gone after all when Lestat gets there, only some vagabonds around... What if Armand went there when Les Innocents was closed, realized that Santino had abandoned his teachings and it all crumbled there before he returned? But yes, I also think that Lestat's travels likely took place between 1844 and 1910 - and I also think that they kept Marius and TwmbK more or less unchanged (at least for now).

I personally cannot wait to see where they take these changes... there is so much already in there, so much set up. I've said it before, they not only have done their homework but they are also fearlessly rearranging, and I love it. AND they must have a bigger plan already worked out, because there’s just... too much details already. Too many little things. Choices.

I love it.

[tofindloveinpoison]

Iconic Fanfictions ive read two years ago and what I currently remember of them:

I will premise this by saying that these fanfics were famous only in certain specific niches of the internet, and that when i say that a work is badly written or i critique it in anyway it?s just my opinion from what i vaguely remember, whihch might not be correct. 

Fanfics below the cut: filthy lucre, asotm, twist and shout, the hat and lung fics, anatomy of a fall, throam, unholyverse. feelfree to add what you remember of “famous fanfics” you’ve read.

tw for mentions of: sexual assault, violence, animal abuse, pedophilia and some other upsetting topics. 

The Milk Fic

Oh my God this was bad but not nearly as extreme as other fics. An iconic and shocking read i do not recommend, but if you really want to read it it will not ruin your life, your month at most. 

From what i remember at least the sex was consensual aaaaaaand i don’t remember any other good/decent aspects about it. 

Very famous, a lot of ppl have read it, gerard way said it was “well-written” but honestly it wasn’t.

( original? ryden version) 4/10 because of lack of actual crimes.

Filthy Lucre

So bad i don’t remember the plot. They’re prostitutes i think? there definitely was an abusive relationship and the sex scenes were so bad i had to skip all of them, meaning i read the whole thing in half an hour.

Really terrible, they don’t end up toghether and that’s the only interesting element. I recomend no one reads this unless you are literally dying of boredom.

(frerard version) 1/10 because its a completed work, but at what cost

Twist and Shout

This is considered one of the good ones and you know what? for iconic fanfiction standards it’s not bad at all, decently-written with actual characters that don’t feel, like most fanfic characters, like bad ooc versions of the original.

How about the overcomplicated plot tho? I don’t remember a thing except for the homophobia (its set in the 50s-60s), the war, the Elvis songs, one cute sad beach scene and one of the protagonists dying of aids. Maybe they also watch star trek,idk; lots to unpack. 

If you want to suffer and you have lots of free time i recommend it, i skipped most of the sex scenes but there is an actual plot so that was not a problem.

(original Destiel version) 8/10 bc I don’t remember how they handled the aids thing but it made me uncomfortable, might be just bc of the upsetting subject matter but i don’t remember

The Hat Fic

DO NOT READ THIS THING. Go read the milk fic if you want weird but not this one please. A milk enema is NOTHING. Contains animal abuse and i don’t remember how consensual the whole thing was.

I CAN ASSURE YOU THIS MAKES ME WANT TO PUKE TO THIS DAY I FEEL SICK WRITING THIS. There is a whole subset of early phanfiction centered on being as disgusting and upsetting as possible and i think this started it.

I higly doubt anyone got off on this but still the possibility unsettles me.

(original phan version )  -8233983743764346/10 should be illigal to talk about it. We should all agree to Damnatio Memoriae this thing.

A splitting of the Mind

Some people insist on treating this as one of the good iconic fics but it’s bad. 

So bad its actually an interesting read if you feel like analizing some text, trying to see what is so appealing about it, despite its evident flaws.

The age gap is 19-16 so not as bad as the Other Iconic mcr Fanfic About Doves that i did not read bc from what i remember it was basically pedophilia/grooming but i might be wrong. God the bar is so low

Portrayal of mantal illness and trauma was truly a shitshow, the writing was not great but also not horrible. The sexual assault elements upset me greatly but it might be just bc of the subject matter

pros: unreliable narrator done decently, ray toro’s character saw the future looking in cereal, characters are characters and not merely names (not to be confused with actual good characterization), nothing else.

(original frerard version) 5/10 for the effort honestly, but i do not recommend this unless you are mentally ready for some heavy topics handled poorly.

The Lung Fic

This was written with the goal of shocking the reader, in the same vein as all hat fic/ milk fic copycats.

 Should be more upsetting, given it contains gore, pedophilia and a bunch of other disgusting madness (maybe mpreg?), but it just reads as a fanfiction taboo list.

Not worth reading at all, clearly intentionally designed to shock and disgust to the point where it’s obvious.

0/10 i don’te remember which version, irrelevant, don’t waste your time

Anatomy of a fall

Contains ghosts, high school au, possibly resurrection or death, idk.

I don’t remember this being particularly offensive in any way, but its been a long time. Then again i did not read the sex scenes so it might contain necrophilia and i wouldn’t know. (i checked and no necrophilia, just “weird supernatural sex”)

is it well written? no, but it’s not outragiously badly-written. Is it funny sometimes? yes.

 In the context of this list, this might be a good one, in any other context probably not. I might be biased bc i love ghost stories in general and this one does not contain sexual assault if i remember correcly. (The bar is soooo low)

(original? frerard version) 7/10 bc ghosts and funny aND IT HAS ILLUSTRATIONS (vietnamese translation available)

 The Heart Rate of a Mouse

Good but not in the classical meaning of the word. It contains some Hot TakesTM on human sexuality, substance abuse and unhealthy relationship(s).

Its set in the 70s so the homophobia is there and she is thriving. Wonderful internalized homophobia, really 10/10 for that.

The sex and the plot sometimes intersect, putting me in the uncomfortable position of having to  read smut or not knowiong what is going on (0/10 ).

Well written for the genre (=beloved fanfictions that are rarely redeemable); characters are original and flawed, even interesting sometimes.

The plot is three pubblished books worth of plot available for free on the internet and that is a blessing. I suggest reading this as if all the characters are OCs and you found this book forgotten on the train and decided to read it. 

But is it actually good as a story? idk its a lot honestly, if you have to quarantine for 14 days bc of covid and you don’t have anything to study, this will fill at least 4 full days of reading.

(original version)8/10 bc it has everithing but its still not a masterpiece of modern fanfic literature sorry

Unholyverse

Contains Demons, priests, scarfs, exorcisms(affectionate), vergin mary tatoos and much more. Not as carefully written as throam or tas, but it still makes it as one of the good  fanfics solely for the cool factor.

It would be so cool if this was better written and a comicbook or a grafic novel with original characters.( I skipped all the sex scenes bc they made me uncomfy, as usual so idkwhat was going on there)

If there was anything extremely upsetting about this one i forgot about it (i checked: they say “ warnings for religious themes, pain, trauma, blood, torture and death”). There is a lot of plot, its not even just one fic its a whole serie. 

Great for passing the time, I forgot most of it 7/10 for the demons (original version)

[youngbeezer]

Do you Believe in Happily Ever After? | Joel Farabee

A/N: Hello again! I got such a great response to my first fic I posted which literally made me so happy, so thank you so much to anyone who gave me the time of their day to read my fic. Here is a new fic for mr. joel farabee!! This one is a little longer and I tried my best, feedback always appreciated, but I hope you enjoy :)

Warnings: Few curse words, overall just fluff

Word Count: 2160

Tagging a few people again so this doesn’t flop,,,

@ollywahlygator @joshsandersons @joelsfarabees @fratboyzegras @sorokns @butgilinsky @ricohenrique

I haven’t been to too many weddings in my life. I attended one for my uncle when I was around 10 years old but I don’t remember much from it. My mother also got remarried around 3 years ago, but up until this year, weddings weren’t a natural occurrence in my life. 

This past year though.. I’ve attended two weddings, got an invitation in the mail today for another one, a close friend of mine just recently got engaged (so that invitation will be coming sometime in the near future), and one of my best friends’ wedding is tomorrow. Now I feel like everywhere I look, I am surrounded by love. 

Now I’m not saying that is a bad thing, but when every one of your friends are either having kids, getting married, or in serious relationships, it starts to feel a little discouraging. Is there something wrong with me? Am I the reason why I’m still single?-- No, I refuse to think like that! I could get a boyfriend if I wanted to. Maybe my friends are right though… Maybe I’m not putting myself out there enough. 

Anyway, one of my best friends, Karly, is getting married to her long-time boyfriend Travis tomorrow. I’ve met Travis, or as everyone seems to call him ‘TK’, a handful of times and I know he plays for the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team-- which is cool I guess, but other than that I don’t know much about his personal life or who he hangs out with. 

Karly and I met running into each other at a cafe once. Yeah, yeah I know it sounds like one of those cliche romantic meetings, where two people bump into each other and immediately fall in love. I mean we did hit it off almost immediately and from there we became like two peas in a pod-- just not in the way you think. I’ve always wondered though, if maybe I ran into a handsome man at a coffee shop or walking down the street, would I be having my happily ever after right now?

I snap out of my thoughts when an incoming call from- speak of the devil, the bribe to be. Before I can even say my greetings, Karly jumps right into business;

“Ok! So since you weren’t able to come to the dress rehearsal or rehearsal dinner. I’ll give you the rundown on what you need to do.”

Oh yeah, did I mention that I am one of the bridesmaids? Sadly, I was not able to attend the functions before the wedding due to not being able to get time off from work. But, Karly was super cool with it, which brings us to the reason for this call.

“Ok so basically, your dress and everything is already in the bridal suite, so everything will be ready for you when you get here tomorrow. You’ll be walking down the aisle third with one of Travis’ buddies Joel-- he plays on the team with Trav and he’s such a sweet guy he’ll definitely help you out if you need anything.. You know now that I think about it you guys would be such a cute couple-”

“Uh Karly? I don’t think now's the time to play matchmaker, when we should be preparing for your big day tomorrow.” I cut her off. 

“Alright, alright. But I will be coming back to that thought. Ok so anyway--”

After that I kind of zone out from trying to keep up with whatever Karly is spitting at me right now. While still on the phone, I pull out my laptop and search for the name ‘Joel’ with ‘Philadelphia Flyers’ next to it in search of this man who is said to be walking me down the aisle. Right away the name ‘Joel Farabee’ pops up with a wikipedia and multiple photos. Hm this guy is kinda cute. Just as I go to click view more images, Karly’s words register back in my brain;

“Ok y/n, did you get that?”

“Hm.. oh yeah! Got it. What time should I be there tomorrow?” I ask, praying that she didn’t already mention that and realize I wasn’t paying attention. 

“8 AM sharp,” she responds all giddy. 

I suddenly remember that my best friend is actually getting married tomorrow. Feeling giddy as well I reply, “Sounds good. I am so happy for you Karly and I can’t wait to see how beautiful you look tomorrow!” 

Karly does a little shriek in response and reiterates her excitement as well. We then say our goodbyes and I wish her a great last night as an unmarried woman before hanging up. I got back to what I was working on before the call and all my jumbled thoughts entered my brain, totally forgetting about a certain someone named ‘Joel’ as I exited the browser. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning I arrive at 8:17 AM at the wedding venue and as soon as I exit the Uber, I start booking it to the bridal suite. When Karly says to be somewhere at 8 AM sharp, you be there at 8 AM sharp, and I’m not particularly fond of facing her wrath today, especially on her wedding day when stress levels are through the roof. 

There’s just one problem though… Since I wasn’t able to attend the rehearsal, I have no idea where I am going. 

Trying to recall the directions Karly told me on the phone last night (when I wasn’t paying attention), I take a sharp turn around a corner looking the opposite direction and suddenly collide with a dead end. Wait- no that’s not a dead end, it’s a person. 

Immediately going to spit out an apology, I stop dead in my tracks when I make eye contact with the handsome man I bumped into. 

“Oh shit! I am so sorry. Are you alright?” I see his lips moving, which are very nice to look at by the way, but my mind doesn’t register his words as I stare dumbfoundedly at this handsome stranger. Who, now that I think about it, looks a little familiar. 

When I still don’t answer, the familiar stranger clears his throat before giving me a once over of my whole body, which does little to bring me out of my trance. If anything I now start to feel my whole face flush from noticing him obviously checking me out. 

His face then seems to light up in recognition before asking, “Wait, are you y/n?”

When he notices my look of confusion on how he knows my name he continues, “I’m Joel, Joel Farabee.” Scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, I notice a slight blush coating his cheeks before he adds, “We’re paired to walk down the aisle together… Um, also I think Karly is looking for you. She was kind of freaking out a little.”

With that last sentence my whole body comes back to life realizing that I am late and Karly is going to kill me. Hurriedly I exclaim “Oh my gosh! I am so late and I have no idea where the hell I’m going.” I frantically search around for any directions to point me to the bridal suite.

Joel kindly puts his hand on my shoulder, which immediately ignites a fire on the skin he is touching, before he reassures “Hey, you’re good. Just take your first right down this hall and then it will be at the end of the corridor, you can’t miss it. Seriously. She hung up streamers and balloons everywhere with a poster on the door that says ‘Bridal Suite. NO BOYS ALLOWED’.” 

Letting out a soft snort I gently thank Joel before rushing in the direction he pointed me to. Before turning right, I sneak a quick glance over my shoulder to find Joel already glancing my way. My heart does a little flutter when we make eye contact and he gives me a little lopsided grin before going on his way. 

What just happened… 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As soon as I walk through the doors of the suite, I am immediately ambushed by the bride to be on why I was late, until she notices the deep blush covering my cheeks, which then prompts another ambush on what made me blush. 

I change the topic as quickly as I can and direct our attention on getting ready for the ceremony. Karly looks absolutely beautiful in her white gown and her hair all dolled up. She doesn’t even seem remotely nervous for today as well. Most weddings I have been to, the bride is always going batshit crazy making sure everything is perfect or worrying that her soon to be husband might back out. That just shows how happy and comfortable Karly and Travis are in their relationship. God, I wonder what it must feel like to have that kind of love that is so solid and healthy. Suddenly my mind starts drifting to what it would be like to have that type of relationship with Joel. 

Oh who am I kidding? I just met the guy. Sure, when his hand touched my shoulder my whole body felt like it was on fire. And yeah, maybe when he gave me that little lopsided grin it gave my entire stomach butterflies. Oh jeez. Today is gonna be a long day… 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ok now I feel like my whole body is going to explode. He is looking at me like I’m now the bride and he is the groom. And suddenly, I’m wishing that were the case. We are getting closer and closer to walking down the aisle together, and every step we take towards one another my stomach does a little flip. 

When we finally reach each other, he offers his arm for me to take as he speaks, “Wow… Uh yeah wow, you look gorgeous.”

Blushing, I respond with a quiet “Thank you.” 

“Guess I was the lucky one eh? In case I end up tripping and making a fool of myself, no one will even be paying attention because all eyes will be on you.” There’s that little lopsided grin of his again. 

“Well aren’t you a sweet talker.” I responded. 

He just gives me a subtle wink before we ascend through the doors and down the aisle where Travis is waiting for the big moment. He gives us both a little smirk before we part ways like he knows something we both don’t. 

…

Eventually Karly walks down the aisle looking like an absolute princess. The officiator says his whole ordeal, Karly and TK both say their vows to one another, there are lots of tears, and Joel and I can’t seem to keep our eyes off of each other. 

After the ceremony, we all head in the direction of the reception hall where the real fun begins. Don’t get me wrong, the wedding was spectacular, the way everyone expected it to be. Now as music filled the air with a giddy sort of elation, the newlyweds looking beautiful and so happy while dancing, friends and relatives chatting between one another about this and that; I can’t help but feel a little bittersweet about it. I want this. I want that giddy elation to be surrounded around me, I want to wear that beautiful white gown, I want the guy to be looking at me like I just hung the moon while we had our first dance. Where’s my happily ever after--

“You know you never properly introduced yourself?” 

Startled, I spun around to find the source. Joel. 

I give him a sweet smile before returning my gaze back to the happy couple and responding, “Y/n y/l/n.” 

He follows my gaze and lets out a little sigh before expressing “They’re perfect for each other, aren’t they?” 

“Yeah, they really are.” Before I can get another word in Joel blurts;

“Do you wanna dance? Like,” He stumbles a little with his words, “like with me?”

Letting out a soft giggle, I happily reply, “I would love to.” 

Seemingly relieved, Joel takes my hand and leads me out onto the dance floor as soon as a slow song comes on. He puts his hands respectively on my waist while I put mine around his neck inching him closer to my body. We dance with each other for a while, even after the song is over and a fast high tempo song blasts through the speakers. It’s like we are lost in each other, just savoring this ‘moment’ together. 

Eventually after the fourth song comes on and we are still dancing, Joel pulls away just a little to look me in the eye before softly whispering “Do you believe in happily ever afters?” 

Seeing that look in his eyes again, the one where it seems like he is looking at me like I just hung the moon? I answer in that same soft whisper, “Yeah… yeah I think I do.”

[belphies-cuhm-sluht]

RuneDate (Belphie x GN!Reader)

3.1K Words

(Went all in on the runescape fic... Whoops!)

“I can’t believe you decided to go visit your family right before a fucking pandemic hit.” Belphie groaned into his phone. It had only been a week then since it had started and he was already complaining. You could only laugh in response, reiterating what the news reporters and the doctors on the tv had said.

“Only one more week. Fourteen days tops, and then I’ll be back down there with you.” You said cheerfully, your feet swinging back and forth in the air. You always acted this way when you talked to him, and he talked to you on the phone every night since you had been up in the human world, so this is how you spent most of your evenings. You loved the sound of his voice, it always made you smile, and you’d find yourself getting flustered, even if he wasn’t trying to get you that way.

“It better only be one more week. I… I mi-.... My bed is really empty, okay. So just, hurry up.” He grumbled, and you were sure that if you could see him his cheeks would be a bright shade of red, his face now buried in his pillow to hide his embarrassment as if you could actually see him through the phone.

“Mmhm… I’ll see you by the end of next week, alright. Get some sleep. Goodnight.” You hadn’t been able to hide the fact that you were laughing. He tried so hard to cover up just how cute he could be, but he wasn’t very good at doing it. He mumbled a quiet goodnight before hanging up the phone. You couldn’t wait to see him again, and this next week couldn’t go fast enough so you could finally be in his arms again.

Morning came, the same as it always did. The birds outside singing and dogs in the distance barking at whatever passed by. You groaned quietly, grabbing your pillow from underneath your head and holding it over your face, trying to block out the sunlight that streamed through, but the buzzing of your phone beside you had your eyes opening slightly, reaching out to grab it and answer the call.

“It’s too early, Belphie.” You were exhausted even though you hadn’t really done much the day before, but your sleep schedule was a wreck and waking up at 8 in the morning meant that you had only gotten four hours of sleep and you desperately wanted more.

“Hmph. You’re not going to bed at a good time. Plus, I haven’t been able to sleep either.” It was a constant complaint of his, one that’s become expected, not that it was your fault, and he didn’t blame you for it… But you did hear about it a lot. “Let me guess… Just one more week, right?” He mocked the words that you had said over a year ago. You could hear the annoyance in his voice, and you’ve explained to him multiple times that it wasn’t your fault, humans were just selfish and stupid, and he didn’t disagree with you at all.

“I wish. I miss you… Maybe I can’t sleep because I’m not with you.” You heard him scoff on his end of the phone, and then the rustling of his sheets as he got out of bed. It’s like you could almost see him if you closed your eyes and listened close enough. He was on his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth, the sound of the floorboards that creaked beneath his feet were distinct and made it clear that that’s where he was going.

“Oh please…” He mumbled around his toothbrush, and while most would be annoyed with him talking while doing it, to you it just made things seem a little bit more normal. He would always try to talk to you from the bathroom while he brushed his teeth, and you could see it now, the toothpaste dripping from the corners of his mouth that you’d roll your eyes at but quickly throw him a rag for before it got on his clothes. “You never went to bed at a decent time down here either. You always wanted to stay up and watch horror movies, I had to practically put your ass to sleep.” He let out a low chuckle before spitting into the sink and then rinsing his toothbrush off. “I have an idea.”

“Oh? What is it?” You sat up in bed, intrigued by whatever his idea could possibly be. You knew that he wasn’t going to sneak up and spend the night with you, as much as you wanted him to. Diavolo was put off by the idea of anyone coming or going from the Devildom, he didn’t know if demons could catch the virus, and he wasn’t going to risk catching it himself.

“You ever play runescape? I know it’s an old game… but… It can be like a date… or something…” He quickly swigged the mouthwash, definitely trying to hide the fact that, again, he was flustered by his own words. God, if he got any cuter your heart wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“A runescape date. Yeah… that sounds really fun. Tonight then?” You were already pushing yourself off your bed and going over to your computer, quickly signing up and downloading the game for later. It had been so long since you’ve actually played it, and even if it was slightly confusing and you were, on a stat level, an absolute fucking nooby… it would be fun, because you were playing it with him.

“Tonight. And uh… maybe I can teach you how to fish… I’m really good at fishing. I just reached level 98.” And honestly, that was the hottest fucking thing you’ve heard him say in a while. Like… level 98 fishing in runescape. Fuck! You really just wanted to see him fish at this point, but you’d have to wait until later.

“You’re gonna have to teach me a lot of things… It’s been a while.” You were talking about the game, and you knew that he knew you were talking about the game, and you were pretty sure that you hadn’t sounded seductive or hinted at anything sexual, but Belphie was… well… Belphie, and he knew how to turn things in that direction quite easily, and he knew that it would have you stuttering a little and it was like he lived just to fluster you at the most random moments.

“It’s been too long, but I’ll teach you a lot of new things once I have you back here.” You hated him… you adored him but you hated him. You both knew that you couldn’t do anything about the feelings that he had purposely made you feel right now, but he loved teasing you, just to get you back for all the times you teased him over text. He cleared his throat, and you could hear him walking back out into the bedroom. “Alright well, I’ll call you later. Can’t wait for our date tonight.” He chuckled softly, knowing that he was basically blue balling you at this point, but you’d also get him back for it, you just needed to think of how. He quickly hung up before you could say anything else, and you knew that he was laughing his way all the way back to his bed where he’d lay back down and probably pass out for the next hour or so. At least it gave you time to finish the tutorial and try to get the hang of the basics.

You didn’t know what the hell you were doing, and that was an understatement. You spent hours wandering around the map, accidentally starting fights with random NPC’s and big ass rats which you’d run away from immediately because you weren’t about to die, you wouldn’t let that happen to yourself. You tried to get the hang of fishing, which… props to Belphie… you didn’t understand it. You weren’t catching shit, and the couple times that you did, it was nothing but shrimp. An entire ocean full of bottom feeders, which wasn’t a problem, aside from the fact that your pockets were filled to the brim with shrimp… that you tried to cook but you aren’t very good at that… so then it just became filled with burnt shrimp that you couldn’t eat and you didn’t know how to drop either.

By the time the date rolled around… you weren’t any better off than you were when you first started. You only went up like one level in fishing and you weren’t even sure how that happened, but it took about five hours. Your stats were a solid 0 on everything else, and you were still stacked with burnt shrimp… so all in all things were going great in the game and you hadn’t died yet.

“Alright so… you have to add me first…” He said, and he honestly had the patience of a saint because, like everything else in the game, you didn’t know what the fuck you were doing. “Do you know how to do that?” He asked after a couple seconds in which you were staring at the screen and trying to figure out what to push to add him.

“Nope…” And as much as you tried to laugh it off, you felt like a freaking idiot. He chuckled lightly, guiding you through what should have been the easiest task. Once you had added him, man you felt so cool. You did that… with help… but you did that.

“Okay, now… you have to do the spell to get you to the castle. It’s like the teleport thing… it was in the tutorial.” The tutorial, that you had already almost completely forgotten about… except the part where you made bread. For some reason that really stuck with you. “The spell book, it should be on the left side… do you see it?”

“Oh… OH! Yeah I see it!” Finding the spell book was simple, but figuring out how to actually teleport was so confusing for some reason. You realized that triple clicking was, in fact, not helping at all. You only needed to click once and then your character would go through the motions and then they’d teleport. “OH I got it! Okay… coming to the castle… okay… Oh I’m here!”

“There you are! You’re doing great. Okay… now just… first we’re gonna go to the bank and you can put all your stuff in there. So just… follow me. Do you know how to do that?” No, no you did not… but you said that you did because you didn’t want to seem like more of an idiot than you already felt. He already knew that you didn’t though, apparently the fact that you didn’t know how to use your magic or how to add a friend made it pretty clear that you wouldn’t know how to follow his character, so he quickly ran down how to do that too, which was such a big help, he doesn’t even know. “Alright, and when you get to the stairs, you’re gonna have to click that you want to go up.”

“Right… the stairs… got it!” The fact that you wanted to clap for yourself when you successfully went up the stairs just goes to show how much you don’t understand about the game. “Okay… I’m at the top… Oh wait, I have to follow you again… Okay… Okay I got it.” The fact that he wasn’t annoyed yet was shocking, and you constantly felt the need to apologize for being so clueless about what to do. You were glad to know that he couldn’t hear the constant clicking of your mouse as you tried to figure out where exactly to click to actually do something. “Alright… my bag is empty… now what….”

“You have to keep your sword and your shield… just those two… the sword and the shield. And then I’m gonna trade with you… You’re gonna need a lot of food, and I need to get rid of these lobsters.” You nodded to yourself, quickly putting the sword and shield back before closing the window and facing his character again. You didn’t know how trading worked at all, you didn’t know if a window was supposed to show up or what… but you waited, and even if you felt like a complete fool, just being able to spend with him like this, it made you happy and even if he couldn’t see you, you were smiling the entire time.

Once you finally figured out how to trade and you were stocked with lobsters, that’s when the real fun began. “Okay… now you’re ready. Do you want to fight the goblins or the cows?” You paused for a second, and you really had to think about it for a second. Cows or goblins…? You didn’t want to fight the goblins because you just assumed that they would be stronger (even though after playing for a bit and raising your own level you realized that they were the same strength as a fucking cow… weak ass goblins), but you really didn’t want to fight the cows… for obvious reasons, but you just assumed they’d be weaker, so you chose them anyway.

“So I just… I just click on the cow?” You asked after he led you to the little gated off area with the cows, and he hummed in agreement, standing back a little as you found the “right” cow to start fighting. “And this’ll raise my strength?”

“Yeah, but you should probably work at your shield first so… try changing your attack…” And there it was again… something you didn’t know how to do, which, again, he knew very well that you didn’t know how to do it. “Alright, you see the swords on the left side of the screen? The little button with the swords? Click that… and then change your attack mode to the one for shielding….” As if you’d know which one that is, but you were gonna wing it and hope that you picked the right one. You knew that he wouldn’t judge you for not knowing, at least not to your face.

The amount of damage that these cows delivered almost made you not feel bad for absolutely beating the shit out of them with the weak ass beginners sword that you had. “Oh my… fuck… do you hear my button clicking?” You asked while rapidly smashing the button on your mouse. You hoped he didn’t, but god, even to you it sounded loud and you had earphones on. “It just keeps doing damage to me but I can’t fucking hit it?!”

“Your stats aren’t high enough yet.” He said in between his laughter. If Levi was there he’d definitely be judging you right now. You were getting your ass handed to you by a fucking level 2 cow, how ridiculous is that?! “Just raise your shield more and then you can choose another attack method to raise your strength. You should at least get them all to five.” Five was a pretty high number to aim for considering you were only getting like 2xp everytime you even hit the cow, but, even if it took forever, you’d have him there with you.

It turned into the both of you just shooting the shit while you went around and murdered every single cow, occasionally being prompted by Belphie to eat a lobster before you die… and you probably should have used the wicked sweet one liner of “wouldn’t be the first time I’ve gotten killed by a cow”, but you were too busy to think of it while killing the cows yourself. You were too busy talking and rapidly clicking at the cow to realize that your health was low, and before you knew it you were dealing with death, who is legitimately the most annoying, talkative fucking character in the game.

“Oh shit… you died?”

“Yeah and Death won’t shut up. He just… oh my god… shut up.” You whined softly, much to Belphies amusement. Every time you tried to leave Deaths weird ass portal cave he kept calling you back to tell you more which only annoyed you further, which in turn had Belphie laughing which was your favorite sound aside from his actual talking… so maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

“I told you to eat the lobsters. That’s why I gave them to you.” He was still laughing as he told you the reasoning behind the lobster trade, and you couldn’t help but laugh with him. You hadn’t had this much fun since you were actually down in the Devildom with him.

“I'm gonna fuck these cows up.”

“And eat the lobsters while doing it.” He added, which made you snort quietly… even though he heard it and proceeded to laugh even more. You had never heard him laugh so much, and as much as you hated the fact that you couldn’t be there with him in person to see him, you still got to hear him laugh, which was the most you could ask for at this point.

Neither of you had realized how long you had been playing until you heard Beel come in the room through Belphies mic, clearly scaring him because you could hear the sharp gasp and then the quiet mumble of “fucking Beel…” before he actually acknowledged his twin.

“Ah shit… Hey, Beel wants to go get some Akudonalds…” Belphie said, and while you knew that you couldn’t stay in a call or play the game forever, it was always hard whenever the calls ended for the night. “Keep playing though… level up more…”

“Yeah, maybe I’ll get on your level.” You teased, and you heard him scoff again and you were pretty sure he rolled his eyes. He and you both knew that even making it halfway to his level would take forever, but if it meant being able to play with him again, you’d do your best to get halfway to halfway there. “I’ll talk to you later…”

“Well duh… I’m not leaving forever, dork. I’m going to get some chicken nuggets. I’ll text you when I get back.” He sighed softly. “We’ll have to do this again though… And try to go to bed at a decent hour. Please. I’ll visit you in your dreams if you do-”

“I’m hanging up now and going to bed! I’ll be asleep by the time you get back with your nuggets! Goodnight!” You quickly hung up, and just as you were about to close everything out on your computer and actually go to bed, you saw him typing.

“You’re such a dork… I’ll be there soon. Goodnight 💙”

[fiveisnumber1]

Timeless - Five Hargreeves x Reader

Word Count: 3850

Warnings: Mild Violence

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23

_________________________

Pt 8 - Birthday Cash (part 1)

Sunlight shined through your curtains as the sounds of the city outside you started to wake you. Slowly you sat up and rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. When your eyes came into focus you took a look at the calendar you hung beside your bed. The date of it read October 1st, 2002. Today was your birthday. Shooting up from your bed you ran down the stairs of your home into the living room. Standing there were your two parents.

"Happy birthday!" Your parents exclaim

You looked around the room to see balloons and decorations everywhere. Every year, your parents went all out for your birthday. To both of them, your existence was a miracle and they wanted to show how grateful they were to have you. Even when you were small and they knew you wouldn't remember what they had done for your birthday they still went all out. You were their little princess and all they wanted to do was make your day the best it could be. As you looked around the room you saw decorations from wall to wall. There were streamers and balloons as far as the eye could see. You made your way over to your parents who both gave you a big hug. 

"Alright sweetie you sit tight right here and your father and I will be right back!"

Taking a seat on your living room couch you sit and wait for your parents. When they come back into the room you see your mom carrying a cake and your father carrying a box. Your mom places the cake on the living room table and takes a seat to your left side while your dad sits to your right. The two of them sing happy birthday to you and when you have your wish in mind you blow the candles out in one go.

"What did you wish for?" Your dad asks you

"Honey, you know wishes don't come true if you talk about them." Your mom says

"Oh fine, I won't pry." your dad responds "Anyway I've got one of many gifts for you right here. Do you want to open it?"

"Of course!" You reply excitedly

Your dad places the box in your lap and you gently undo the ribbon tied around it. Opening the box you remove the tissue paper and see the gift inside.

"No way! It's exactly what I wanted!" You exclaim

Inside the box was a replica of the diary for The Princess Diaries. The movie came out a little over a year ago and since then you were obsessed. You wanted the diary from that movie specifically because you loved how it needed a locket that fit it perfectly to open it up. 

"Well, you had been talking about the journal ever since you saw the movie. It took a while but we had it custom made for you. It's practically an exact replica except we had it so yours could fit more pages." Your mom explains

"Do you like it?" Your dad asks

"I LOVE IT!" You reply "But where is the locket?"

"Lift up the diary." You mom says

When you lifted the book up you saw not one but two lockets. 

"Why are there two?" You ask

"Well, we wanted to make sure that if you lost the first one you could have a second one handy." Your dad responds

"Keep the second one in a safe place." Your mom says

"I will!" You reply

You knew exactly where you were going to keep the second locket but for now, you spent some time with your family eating cake for breakfast and taking in all the time that your parents had spent to make your day special. When the three of you finished your cake your dad states,

"Your mom and I have one more surprise for you but we need to go to the bank to get it. Go get ready so we can head out." 

Excitedly you run upstairs and get ready. When you finish you eagerly wait for your parents downstairs. Once all of you have everything you need to go, you head out the door and off to the Capital West Bank.

__________________________

Today was October 1st, 2002 but in the Hargreeves household, this day was just like any other. Reginald Hargreeves cared little for birthdays or the acknowledgment that his children were another year older. Like for past birthdays, he merely congratulated them on not passing yet and went on with his day. Unlike Reginald, Grace was much more sympathetic and caring towards the kids and tried to make sure that they all felt special on their birthday. When the children came down from their rooms for breakfast she made sure that each one of them got their favorite thing to eat. She also wished each individual child Happy Birthday as she handed them their plates. This was the routine that occurred every October 1st since they could remember, but this year it would be a little different because the kids knew that later today they would get to celebrate with you. While they kept quiet when their father was at the table, the minute he left the chattering of excitement amongst the six siblings was unstoppable. Each one of them presented their ideas for what they wanted to do for a fun birthday. Diego suggested,

"We should play pin the tail on the donkey but instead it's balloons and we have to pop them with knives!"

"Diego, you would win that one automatically." Allison comments

"And? I want to be a winner on my birthday." He replies with a wide grin

"Well, I want to have a dance party for our birthday!" Allison says

"Oooh, I can get on board with that." Klaus comments

"I want to duet playing happy birthday with (Y/N)." Vanya comments

"And I think it would be fun if we just sit around and talk," Ben says

"Maybe if we're lucky she'll bring over presents and we'll actually get stuff this year!" Luther adds

"What do you want to do for our birthday, Five?" Vanya asks turning the attention to him

"I bet he wants to kiss (Y/N)." Diego interjects making kissy faces at Five "Mwah mwah mwah oh (Y/N) I love you so much!"

"Shut up." Five says looking away from his siblings, heat rising to his face

"You're not denying it." Luther teases

Luther and Diego start to tease their brother more and Klaus starts to sing,

"Five and (Y/N) sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Fi-"

"Ugh! Leave me alone!" Five says grabbing his breakfast and getting up from the table

Five then flashes away to his room. His siblings were so annoying no matter what day it was. Ever since he had accidentally told them about a month ago that he loved you, they relentlessly teased him about it. Well, Diego, Luther, and Klaus did with Allison chiming in here and there. Ben and Vanya were more so supportive and stayed out of his business, which he appreciated. Nevertheless, it was difficult to deal with their incessant teasing. Yes, he loved you and yes, he's thought about kissing you but he couldn't find the courage to go through with it. You were his best friend, his only friend and he didn't want to lose you because he felt a certain way and you didn't. It was a risk he just wasn't willing to take because he couldn't be sure how you felt for him. Five sat down on his bed and angrily munched on his birthday breakfast hoping that soon enough something would happen to make the day more exciting.

__________________________

When you and your family arrived at the Capital West Bank you took a look around. It was very nice looking with high ceilings and a balcony upstairs that worked its way around the main room. Your father approached the counter and you followed. You ignored the conversation your father and the clerk were having and continued to look around. You saw many different people in the bank, some standing around, some going and then some coming in. As you watched a group of men walk in the door you grew suspicious. In your gut, you felt something shifty about them. Cautiously you watched them out of your peripheral to see what they were up to but to not be obvious about it. A bank teller then steps out from behind the counter and walks you over to a set of stairs directing you and your family up them. Bringing you to a back room the teller uses a key to unlock the door. In the room, you see wall to wall safes. Each one looking just as heavily secured as the next. Your father takes a step towards one of them and entered a passcode. When the safe opens in there is an exact replica of Princess Mia's tiara. Your father gently grabs it from the safe and places it on your head.

"A perfect princess tiara for our perfect birthday princess." Your mom comments

As you relish in the sweet moment with your parents you all hear some commotion from downstairs. Your family and the teller head out of the room and watch from the upstairs balcony as chaos breaks loose downstairs. You can hear the screams of other people in the main lobby as the men who you had a bad feeling about pull out some guns and start threatening people. The banker pulls you and your family back into the back room. Quickly your dad takes the tiara off your head and puts it back in the safe before closing it swiftly. The banker that brought you upstairs calls 911 and details the situation going on, but before he can finish talking to the 911 operator a couple of members of the who were in charge of this robbery shoot him. The criminals, uncaring of what they had just done to an innocent life proceeded to make their way over to you and your parents. Your parents get in front of you to put space between you and the criminals but it is useless because they end up forcing you three down on the ground and put duct tape around your wrists. As you're on the ground you give your mother a pleading look but she shakes her head no. You knew that you could use your powers to get you and your family out of this but your mom didn't want you to in fear of people taking you to do experiments. You let out a sigh as the robbers sit the three of you up. One of them sends the others outside to guard the room before turning to your father to interrogate him.

"Now tell me where this tiara is." The criminal commands

This is not how you expected your birthday to go.

__________________________

For the Hargreeves kids, their birthday was going the same as always, which is to say not much excitement was going on. They all separated and started to do their own things but their activities were interrupted when Reginald yelled,

"Children come down to the parlor immediately!" 

All the children made their way down to the parlor as quickly as they could. Standing in an orderly line from 1 to 7 the children look to their father to hear what he has to say.

"You have been training to use your powers for years and now you have been presented the opportunity to go and demonstrate them to the world. The Capital West Bank is under siege by a group of robbers and the patrons inside have been taken as hostages. There has been a standoff with police for about two and a half hours at this point and I intend for you children to finish it. Get out of your pajamas and get in your uniforms, we leave in 10 minutes sharp."

The children run off to their rooms and rush to get ready for their first-ever mission. This was not quite the excitement they were looking for but nonetheless, it was better than nothing. Within 10 minutes' time, all the children were ready to go. Quickly, they made it to the bank. The six children with powers devised a plan to get inside while Vanya stayed with Mr. Hargreeves looking at the scene from afar. All the kids minus Luther make their way into the bank through side entrances trying to not get caught. As nonchalantly as possible Allison walked towards the main part of the bank. As she did so she saw one of the criminals talking on a walkie talkie.

"Hey get them behind the counter," He said to some other robbers using his gun to gesture "Now you've put me in a position where I gotta do something I don't wanna do. SHIT!"

She approaches the man and stands their innocently.

"Hey get back with the others!" The man commands to Allison

"I heard a rumor... Allison replies

"What? What did you say?" The man asks

Allison then leans in towards the man and repeats herself. Putting a hand up to her mouth she says,

"I heard a rumor that you shot your friend in the foot."

Under the command of Allison's power, the man turns to his accomplice and aims the gun at him.

"Hey dude, what the hell?" the other man asks

The man under Allison's power then shoots his friend in the foot before shooting again. The other man falls to the ground and accidentally shoots off rounds from his automatic weapon. The hostages of the bank scream in fear. A crash then comes from the ceiling as a bunch of glass rains down into the bank. Along with the glass is Luther who jumps down into the bank, grabs one of the criminals banging his head against the counter before throwing him out of one of the high windows. Within seconds Diego runs in brandishing his weapons of choice,

"Guns are for sissies, real men throw knives!" He exclaims throwing his knives and redirecting them towards one of the gunmen 

The knives manage to hit the gunman in the shoulder and his heart. After the one gunman got hit by Diego's knives, the man standing next to Allison came out of his trance and ran away from her towards the counter. As the kids and robbers continue to fight chaos continues to ensue throughout the whole building.

__________________________

You and your parents had been in the backroom upstairs for what felt like hours at this point. The man who stood before you kept yelling at your father to tell him where the safe that had your tiara was. Somehow your dad had avoided the question thus far but the criminal was becoming inpatient. The robber was about to speak again when the sound of gunshots rang out from downstairs.

"We're gonna have to move this along. If you're not going to tell me straight up then I'm just going to have to force it out of you!" The robber yells

The robber then grabs you and holds the gun in his hand against your head.

"You should let go of me before something happens." You comment calmly

"Aw, what are you gonna do? Cry?" The man mocks

"You asked for it." You reply

In one swift motion, you phase backward through the man and kick him towards a desk that was in the room. As he falls over it you grab the letter opener and stab the man in the back with it hitting his heart. Undoing your parents' bindings you tell them,

"Stay here."

"But-" Your mom interjects

"STAY HERE" you command them

Within a second's time, you had phased through the door and into the middle of the upstairs hallway. Making yourself visible you use your powers to manifest the tiara in your hand and hold it up.

"Hey!" you yell grabbing the attention of the armed robbers "Looking for this?"

The angry men start to chase you but you turn invisible.

"Where'd she go?" One of them asks

One of the men walks down the hall to see if he can find you. Once the men are on two opposite side of the hall you reappear and taunt,

"If you want this crown you'll have to kill me for it."

The two men turn their guns on you and start to rapidly fire but you use your powers to make them go through you harmlessly and the two men end up killing each other. After you confirm they were incapacitated you hear a voice yell,

"Get back you freaks!"

Looking down from the balcony you see a man standing on top of the bank counter surrounded by Allison, Diego, and Klaus in their academy uniforms. You wonder when they got here but continue watching. the man points his gun at each of them he demands,

"Hey be careful up there buddy," Klaus comments

"Yeah, wouldn't want you to get hurt" Allison chimes

"Get back now!" The criminal demands

Five flashes behind the man so he is sitting criss-cross on the counter.

"Or what?" He asks with a cocky smile

The man turns his attention and gun to Five and starts shooting but Five had flashed away before any bullets could hit him. Flashing behind the man once more he crosses his arms, a serious look on his face. The man on the counter turns to him and starts clicking a stapler at him. Five looks down at the stapler before sarcastically commenting,

"That's one badass stapler."

Immediately after though Five forcefully pushes the man's hand. The stapler hits hard causing a gash in his head and the man to fall off the counter. Your jaw drops and your heart starts to race a little. 

"Damn," you whisper to yourself

Something about him kicking that guys ass was really attractive to you. Forgetting that you were in the middle of fighting one of the robbers grabs you and takes the tiara out of your hand. You phase out of his arms and say,

"Either the crown goes down on the group or you go up in the air."

"You're not getting this back." The man states

"Alright, don't say I didn't warn you."

And with that you make it so this man's molecules are extremely light and hang him upside down in the air over the lobby of the bank. Freaking out he throws the tiara over the balcony and it lands by your feet. Not part of your plan but you are satisfied nonetheless. You continue to leave the man hanging as you watch your friends downstairs. Outside the vault five of the six children stand in a semi-circle around Ben.

"Do I really have to do this?" Ben asks

"C'mon Ben there are more of them in the vault," Luther says

"I didn't sign up for this," Ben says in a resigned tone

Ben enters the vault and begins to take out the men in their one by one. From across the room the man you were holding yells,

"Put me down!"

The five children left outside the vault switch their attention and see a man dangling upside down in the air. Looking slightly above him they can see you standing on the balcony above.

"I said put me down you crazy bitch!" 

"You got it." You reply with a smirk before making the man's molecules extremely dense

The man rapidly falls down towards the floor of the lobby and impales himself on a flagpole. Five looks up at you an admiring smile on his face and awe in his eyes (even if they were hidden behind a mask). He had never seen someone so beautifully kebob a man. 

"Wow." Five said to himself

The hostages in the bank start to run out of the building screaming. You transport yourself downstairs to the middle of the lobby and watch the bloodbath occur behind the translucent glass of the vault. When it stops you see Ben slowly step out from behind the door and he can be heard saying,

"Can we go home now?"

You see the children walk around the counter to make their way over to you. Even behind their masks, you could see the excitement in their faces especially that of Five. The children approach you but as they do you can see one of the men still alive get up and quickly make their way over to your group. Raising their gun up, they point it in their direction. He could've aimed at any one of you but he pointed his gun at Five. Quickly reacting you yell,

"Five watch out!"

You then transport your molecules so that you are between Five and the gunman. The gunman pulls his trigger but you push his arm up so that the shot hits the ceiling. You wrap your hand around his neck and look him in the eyes. Adrenaline rushing through your veins all you could think about was how this man almost killed the boy you loved. You were about to say something when,

*BANG*

Your entire top part of your body was covered in red. The body of the man falls backward and you see that all that was left was the shoulders down. You blink a couple of times coming to the realization of what you just did. Slowly turning to the group of kids Diego exclaims,

"HOLY SHIT (Y/N), YOU BLEW HIS HEAD OFF! THAT'S SO COOL.”

"Uh, thanks." you comment before gesturing to yourself and adding "Hey Ben, looks like we're twins now.”

You see a smile appear on the face of the boy who didn't want to be here in the first place. He didn't say anything but it brought him comfort to know you were in the same boat as him. You watch as Five opens his mouth to say something but before he can you hear someone screaming your name from above you. Turning around you see your parents. You wave to them from the lobby floor.

"Hi, mom! Hi dad!" You say as if nothing was wrong

You and the Hargreeves kids all watch as your parents rush down the stairs to get to you. When your mom gets to you she crouches down looking all over you for injuries.

"Oh my god (Y/N) are you okay? You're all covered in blood!" She cries

"Don't worry mom, it's not my blood!" You say with a positive attitude

Your mom wails in distress at the sight of her baby covered in someone else's blood.

"Honey, I don't think that was the right answer." You dad comments putting a hand on your mom's shoulder

"Oh uh, well then it is-" You start to say

"No don't finish that sentence, that's not it either." Your dad adds

Your dad helps your distressed mom off the floor and places a hand on your back escorting you all to the door. As the three of you walk he says,

"You know what. We're gonna go home and you're gonna get all that blood off you and then your mom and I are going to lay down for the rest of the day while you do whatever makes you happy for your birthday.”

The six children watch as you make your way out the door with your parents but before you exit you turn to smile at them knowing that you would see them later. As soon as you leave the kids rush out to the front steps so that the public can acknowledge them for the first time. This was the most exciting birthday they had had so far but they all knew it would only get better once you came over to celebrate later.

Tag list: @xplrreylo @joebob15274 @insatiable-ivy @fruitsaladtree @angelpeachamber @academy-umbrella @lizziel1410 @ir3neeee @faith-quake @aliens-with-colas @eddiomyspaghettio @lady-celeste25 @im-dead-and-hurting @nerdypinupcrystal @cherry-ki-d @anapocalypseinmymind

[hatake-no-sharingan]

A Well Loved Copy (PART 1: Magical Places) 

Kakashi x Reader

Story Summary: Your cozy life as a bookseller is disturbed when a box of the worst books you could ever imagine arrives at your store, and with them a certain silver haired ninja to whom you are definitely not attracted.  

Relationship: Kakashi x Reader

Warnings: None

A/N: I wrote this first part a few days ago, but it still had a few things missing and I finally finished it today. I’m thinking it’s going to be at least 3 parts long (depending on how much my brain allows me to write) and that it’s going to be mostly fluff and romance, but I also want to add some angst. Hopefully you’ll all like it <3 Be kind and enjoy.

Magical Places

“God who even reads this crap” you tell yourself as you arrange the 20th copy of the latest Icha Icha Special Holiday Edition on the hot new arrivals shelf in the bookstore. “It’s unbelievable how they keep making new editions of the same trash and people actually buy them”

Last night, your boss had explicitly told you that he wanted the books in the most visible part of the store, because they were always a massive hit, unlike the beautiful short story books you had been forced to stash in a less noticeable shelf almost at the back of the store.

You spent hours admiring the graceful prose and the magical places they took you to, wishing your own writing was half as good. You knew most of those books by heart, and every time one of your favorite authors published one, you read it so many times until you could almost recite it word by word. That’s why your personal collection of books was small, but very well loved. Whenever you got the chance, you recommended them to customers, though almost none listened to you. However, those who did, always came back to thank you for it.

“It’s better to know one book intimately, than a thousand superficially” your mother told you when you were little, and to this day, the phrase stuck with you.

When your boss, the shop owner, told you to remove your favorite stories, the ones you knew intimately, from the best shelves to make space for what was basically porn disguised as a romantic thriller, it felt personal.

“I’m sorry, I know they’re good, but we need to give up the space for the best selling authors” your boss had told you yesterday night when he saw your frown as you removed them from sight. You ignored him for the rest of the time you were there while going through the new inventory together, and left the new arrivals unopened

“I’ll arrange them in the morning. If you don’t need anything else I’m leaving” you slipped your very worn book in your pocket, grabbed your keys and left.

That’s why people don’t read real literature, because it keeps getting hidden from sight and replaced with trash, you sigh.

Now you look towards the remaining boxes, the publisher sent way too many for your judgement, and decide to put them away in storage until more copies are needed, so you can still keep a few other not so crappy books on the star shelf.

When you’re returning from the storage room, you hear the door chime, signaling that a new customer is here. You check the time, barely 8:00am.

God, who’s here this early?

“IT’S HERE!” A silver haired man acting like a 6 year old in a candy store rushes in, and grabs 3, no, 4 copies of Icha Icha Special Holiday Edition without noticing he’s messing up your perfectly arranged shelf. “I literally waited a month for it! I need to read it now, it’s gonna be so good”

Is he talking to himself? Or to me?

The guy is bubbling with excitement, running his long fingers across the cover of the book on top. You don’t know why, but seeing the motion sends shivers down your very tired spine. You shrug, and start the computer to enter the day log into the system.

He walks to the counter, feeling giddy with the books and you get tense at the realization of who the guy you’ve been gaping at is.

The signature mask, the covered left eye and the nonchalant but confident walk give it all away.

He’s kinda hot in person, but his awful taste in books ruins it, you think.

“Would you like me to wrap those for you?” you manage to ask, pointing to the four copies he dropped on the counter. “Or would you rather do it yourself at home?” If I were his friend I’d kill him if he gave me that as a gift.

“Huh?”

“We offer a gift wrapping service.”

“Oh no, thank you, they’re not gifts. All four of them are mine”

“All four?” You ask, confused.

“Yeah, one’s my mission copy, another is my house copy, then the back up one, and the last goes on my shelves untouched”

“You must really like the series.” You say sarcastically, emphasizing on the word really.

“They are really good, contrary to popular belief. I know a lot of people judge them, but I swear if they actually read the series, they’d know it’s not just porn” he says with a chuckle, clearly aware you’re judging him.

“Ummm I don’t know” you say scratching the back of your head “I’d rather stick to real literature”

“Wait, you’ve never read them?”

“Nope”

“Not even one?”

“No no, wouldn’t want to waste my time”

“No wonder you’re staring at me like that” he says under his breath, and you pretend not to hear him. “What do you read, then? If you’re only into real literature”

You nod towards the last shelves in the room and then gesture to your own battered copy of The Cursed Beauties and Other Stories.

“They made me hide them away so I could make space for your special edition.”

“I’m sorry about that, maybe they can share a shelf next time.” Did he just smirk? Is he hitting on me? No, it must be me reading too much into things. “I’m Kakashi, anyway”

“I know, you’re kinda notorious amongst us booksellers, as the guy who buys too many copies of Icha Icha”

“Really?”

“No”

“Oh”

“You’re an important ninja okay?” He’s barely aware of it apparently “I have a few modern leaf history books here that mention you. And I think there might be a biography on you too, you’re definitely in the Yondaime’s. I had to read it for school, though I’m not very sure of how much truth is in it. Non ninja writers tend to exaggerate things huh? Not because I’m a ninja myself, becau-well, ummm I’m not, but I have read a lot, on ninjas I mean.” You get flustered when you catch yourself speaking a lot. He makes you nervous, alright? Even though he has bad taste in books and is a bit of an asshole, you can’t help but feel attracted overwhelmed by him.

You get an embarrassed smile from him too.

“I can’t imagine what in my life would be interesting enough to write about” he says, gently tapping his fingers to his temple “but I’ll tell you something, Icha Icha is interesting, way more fun to read than my life. I’d leave one of these copies here for you, but this isn’t the first book in the series, so you really wouldn’t understand it. But you should give the first one a shot, if you don’t like it, you’re allowed to hate me forever and judge my poor taste in books.” He heads for the door and makes his departure, but not before turning around and flashing you a big smile that you swore his whole face was glowing beneath all those coverings.

Something about him lingers with you for the rest of the day, as if he’d never really left the store.

The next morning when you come in, you notice there’s something inside the mailbox which catches your attention, only for the simple fact that you never get mailed anything small enough to fit in the mailbox. It’s always boxes upon boxes of books and gadgets related to literature.

You open it and take out a well worn copy that has definitely seen better days, of Icha Icha Paradise. There’s a small post it note stuck on the back cover scribbled with messy handwriting

Give it a shot, I promise you’ll like it. 

-K

P.S. Take care of it, it’s my favorite copy. Hopefully by entrusting you with it, you’ll decide to entrust me later with your own book ;)

Despite all your judgements and aversions to the series and the author, you make yourself a strong cup of coffee, sit back on your familiar spot, and open the book to the first page.

[angst-in-space]

june ‘22 writing progress

words written: 18.9k

most words written in a day: 2212

least words written in a day: 116

current yearly total: 124.1k

projects worked on:

- finished writing ch 9 of sylvix dreamscape fix and started writing ch 10 - started editing ch 8 of dreamscape fic - finished writing new ending of my ya sci-fi book!! AT LAST! - outlining arctic monster book - started writing a twiyor fic

works published in june:

none

june goals:

- finish editing ch 8 of sylvix dreamscape fic and hand off to betas - finish writing a draft of ch 9 and start writing ch 10 - maybe start editing ch 9 if i have time? - finish writing the new end of my book - cut down my book word count enough so that i can actually add the new ending to it lol - edit renga fic if i have time? - apply to queerkidlit mentorship - maybe keep outlining twiyor fic if i have time

july goals:

- write ~30k for camp nano - finish editing ch 8 of dreamscape fic and hand off to betas - finish writing the last chapter of dreamscape fic - start next round of revisions on ya sci-fi book - continue outlining/zero-drafting arctic monster book - work on twiyor fic - edit renga fic if i have time? - start editing ch 9 of dreamscape if i have time?

notes:

LOL SO.... june was a very very wild month for me (mostly in a good way!) but yeah. holy shit. 

soooo if you’ve been following my updates all year you probably know i have been applying to mentorship after mentorship for months and have not gotten any. well!! firstly around june 10th i got multiple full manuscript requests from a mentorship i applied to called queeryfest. i was very excited to receive these requests of course but also panicked a bit bc at that point i was not really happy with the state of my manuscript. i had a mostly-finished new ending that i thought would improve it a lot, but the rest of the book was extremely long and the new end would add a significant chunk to the word count. 

soooo i decided to take it upon myself to write the rest of the new end and edit like 20k? 30k?? words out of my book in like, 4 days. this was a very exhausting and stressful experience that i would not recommend to anyone and hope to never relive again LOL however, it did push me to finally finish writing the better ending and cut a lot of unnecessary stuff out of my ms. also somewhere in the middle of all this i also applied to the queerkidlit mentorship. woo!!

and uh long story short.... by some miracle all that work paid off bc i was not offered one but TWO mentorships on the last day of june (happy pride month to me, amiright??) and it happened to work out nicely where my queerkidlit mentor is willing to wait a few months to do our mentorship in the fall while i complete my queeryfest mentorship. in other words i will be doing two mentorships back to back which should hopefully really help me whip my manuscript into shape 😤 for the time being i’m in a bit of a writing limbo... my queeryfest mentors will be giving me an edit letter sometime within the next ~2 weeks so depending on what they say, i’ll probably end up having to dedicate the last half of this month and most of august/september doing book revisions. but!! until then i’m putting my book aside and focusing on fic for a bit (for the most part). 

i am very nearly done writing sylvix dreamscape fic! like legitimately....i am writing the last scene before the epilogue right now, so i’m hoping to finish that very soon (although....i will miss it...sniffles). then ofc i will still have to edit chapters 8-10 which will probably...take me a while lolll but hopefully i can get those edited/posted over the next couple months.

i also have that renga fic that i finished like a year ago that i still have not edited/posted so uhhh i keep telling myself i will edit that but....we shall see akdfjdk

oh and i also started writing a twiyor fic but it’s. not the one i outlined. in fact not totally sure i will end up posting it cuz it’s uh yeah *runs away* buuut for now i’m just writing it for fun and we’ll see what happens ;)  otherwise uhhh yeah gonna be aiming to write around 30k for camp nano and that’s gonna be a combo of rewriting/writing scenes for my ya sci-fi book, outlining/zero drafting my (maybe?) next book, and fic writing. so yahoo!!

this was a really long update.... everything happens so much. but truly i am super excited and looking forward to the next few months!!! 

[krisdreaming]

hear me out: oikawa with an s/o who continuously texts him if he's gotten home after practice only to get ignored, then going back to the gym ready to yell at him for ignoring her only to find oikawa on the floor dead tired from overworking? pure fluff please, i need my toru crumbs :( thank you so much!

So, this is a super old request (I’m so sorry) but I hope you enjoy! Also, I did end up putting in just a tiiiiny amount of very soft angst (maybe it’s not even considered angst?), so I hope that’s alright!

-

“Oh, Tooru,” You sigh under your breath as you check your phone screen for what feels like the hundredth time. Still no message from him. Your own messages just stare back at you, mocking you.

To: Tooru 🥰💞❤️

[Sent 4:36pm] Let me know when you get home, baby, don’t work too hard ❤️

[Sent 6:45pm] Are you home yet? It’s getting late

[Sent 7:58pm] Tooru, don’t tell me you’re still at practice

Finally, you type out one last message before grabbing your jacket and heading out the door.

[Sent 8:16pm] I’m coming to get you, whether you like it or not

The walk to the school isn’t too long, and despite the slight chill that’s setting in now that the sun has almost completely set, it’s actually rather enjoyable. Or, it would be, if you weren’t on your way to pry a volleyball from your boyfriend’s fingers.

The gym door is propped open, letting in the breeze, and though warm yellow light is flooding out into the night, it’s eerily silent. The gym is seemingly empty, but dozens of volleyballs are scattered across the floor. Your breath catches in your throat when you finally catch sight of Tooru, sitting on the floor with his head tilted back against the wall, eyes closed. A water bottle is clutched loosely in his hand, but he’s completely still.

“Tooru!” You call out as you jog across the gym toward him. The sound of your voice seems to startle him, and he lifts his head to look at you. 

“What are you doing here?” He asks as you drop to your knees next to him, relieved that he seems alright. His hair is slightly damp with sweat, and he’s still breathing heavily from exertion.

“I texted you! Four times!” You lift your phone and shake it as proof. You don’t miss the way his eyes dart to the locker room, where his phone is most likely tucked away in his bag. You had been annoyed, but you drop the sharp edges from your voice. “What’re you still doing here?”

“My serves were ass today, so I stayed behind to keep practicing them.” He takes a swig from the water bottle. “They need more work.”

With a sigh, you slide against the wall until you’re side by side with him, reaching for his hand. He lets you take it, loosely linking your fingers together. His skin is warm, and you can feel his callouses rough against your palm. A reminder of how hard he works every day.

You take his hand into your lap, absently playing with his fingers. “Baby,” You say softly, “You’re working so hard, but everybody needs to take a break every once in a while. It’ll be better for you in the end.”

He turns to look at you but doesn’t respond. His breaths are evening out, you notice with a satisfied hum. “I’m so proud of you,” You continue, “And everything you’ve accomplished. But if you keep pushing yourself this hard…” Your gaze travels unbidden to his knee, and you don’t finish the thought. He’s wearing the brace today. He seems to follow your line of sight, because he gives your hand a soft squeeze.

“I know,” He says under his breath. “I just wanna be the best.” He’s smiling a small smile, expression soft as he looks at your face. It may have been cause for concern months ago or a year ago, but you know how far he’s come, so you just smile back.

“Well, in my book, you’re already the best,” You say firmly, leaning in and pressing a quick, tender kiss to his lips. You don’t miss the way he leans into it, and lingers just a second after you begin to pull away. “Come on, I’ll help you get these balls put away, and then we’re going home.”

“You don’t need to do that,” He protests, slowly getting to his feet, but you’ve already grabbed the ball bin and started to chuck balls into it.

“I want to,” You say simply, and he doesn’t argue. With the two of you working together, it isn’t long until the gym is tidied up and Tooru is flicking the lights off. As you walk hand in hand towards home, neither of you says a word for a while, content to just breathe in the sweet night air.

Tooru breaks the silence first. “Thank you,” He says, tugging your hand to pull you a little closer. You laugh softly.

“What for?” You tilt your head and look at him, at the way the streetlights cast strange shadows on his face. He looks happy. Content. You smile.

“For checking on me. For helping me.” He gives your hand a squeeze. “For being here. I know I don’t always pay as much attention to you as I should,” He adds.

“I know how busy you are,” You brush it off with a wave of your hand. “It’s alright, as long as I don’t catch you overworking yourself,” You say sternly, wrapping your free hand around his arm and hugging it closer to your chest. “Or I’ll call Iwaizumi next time,” You threaten, looking up at him with a cheeky grin.

“Hey, now!” He sputters, “No need for such drastic measures!”

“Well…” You laugh, knowing you don’t need to say anything more. 

“I’ll be good, I’ll be good,” He promises, leaning in to give you a quick kiss. You can feel his lips curve into a smile against yours, and you kiss him once more.

“Hm, I’ll take your word on that,” You murmur.

“I love you, Y/N.” He says then, soft and low and so full of adoration that you can feel your heart starting to swell in your chest.

“I love you, too, Tooru.” You hope he knows just how much.

[castielific]

Title: Fancy and the tramp

Story status: Complete, 8 chapters

Rating: Explicit

Tags: Dean/Castiel, Alternate Universe, Fake boyfriends, pretend relationship, homeless!Dean, rich!Cas, family, angst with a happy ending, temporary breakup, getting back together, coming out, past!homophobia, self esteem issues, Dean Winchester has a sexuality crisis, first time, homelessness, bed sharing, pining

Sex tags: anal sex, switching, bottom!Cas, bottom!Dean, first time, frottage, marking, blowjob, fingering, barebacking

Special warning: Contrary to what the title may presage, there are no spaghettis in this story. 

Summary: 

"Okay, let's be clear on one thing from the start. This is not a lifetime movie and I'm straight, so no falling in love, get it?"

"I get it, Dean," Castiel nods.

Well, that's it then, apparently Dean is going to a fancy engagement party with his new fake boyfriend. What a weird day. 

Link to AO3

Chapter 1 under the cut:

************

"Come on Ricky, you owe me that money!" Dean says on his phone, taking a step forward when the line of the coffee shop shortens. 

"I don't owe you shit, Dean. You still owe me the last three months of your rent," his ex landlord says on the phone.

"And I'll pay you, you know I will. But to get the money, I need a job, and to get that job I need some new clothes and-"

"Yeah yeah, I know the deal. You think no one has told me that one before? No bueno, man, I'm keeping your deposit," Ricky grumbles. 

Dean groans in frustration. "Come on, all I need is fifty dollars so I can buy a pair of pants without any holes in it. You give me fifty, I get the job and I pay you back, how does that sound?" he tries to negotiate. 

"Like a fucking lie," Ricky spits just before hanging up.

"No Ric-fuck!" 

The woman in front of him in line sends him a dark look. Dean rolls his eyes at her. Like she hasn't heard worse before. 

Ricky was his last shot. It was a long one, he really does owe that bastard some serious money. Guess he can kiss the job interview at two goodbye. It's some kind of assistant job. It sounds easy enough, buying coffee and picking dry cleaning and stuff. It was still a long shot anyway. Dean's only real job experience is being a bagger boy when he was seventeen and it lasted about two months before his dad decided to move them further east. 

So far, he'd always managed to get by doing repairs or cleaning at gas stops and motels. The older he gets and the harder it gets to find that kind of random job. People are more willing to give a few bucks in exchange for manual tasks to a kid than they are to a nearly thirty years old guy. Now they just tell him to fuck off. 

And since it's always been casual and off the book, the only official work experience he has is the bagger thing. He doesn't even have a high school diploma because he dropped out long before that. Not exactly a stellar resume. Which explains why he hasn't found work in eight month and is currently living in his car. Thank God he has Baby. 

He had been too ambitious thinking he could get his own place. It could only pay rent for about five months before he went broke. He's never had a home before, and had no idea that having an apartment cost so much. In motels, you don't exactly have to pay for water or heat or utilities. There was a bunch of stuff he hadn't planned for that ate up the last of his meagre savings. Ricky threw him out after three months when Dean couldn't scrape up enough money to pay rent anymore, putting a violent stop to Dean's pipe dream of living a normal life. He hoped it would be simpler to get a job if he had an actual address, had even thought about scrapping up enough to maybe get his GED. He's not sure what he's going to do now. 

He's always wanted to be a mechanic. If his dad ever taught him anything, it was how to take care of the Impala. John taught him all the basics and Dean got the knack of it. As a teen, he spent days reading car magazines and working on the Impala, trying to learn as much as he could about how cars worked and how to repair the different parts. He knows enough by now that he could easily work in a garage, but he's got no diploma, and hasn't found anyone willing to hire him on faith alone. 

The line of the coffee shop shortens again, the barista asking her order to the goody-two-shoes in front of him. Dean looks regretfully at the display of sandwiches. He searches his pockets and only comes up with three dollars. Of course, the cheapest piece of food cost four dollars. Dean sighs. Guess just a coffee will have to do today. 

He won't have another choice but to go to the soup kitchen tonight. He hates it there. The food is crap and he wants to punch the prancy people serving it. They always try to give him some Jesus bullshit with his food, like Jesus is ever gonna put a roof over his head and find him a decent job. Neither Jesus nor God nor whatever gives a crap about him. Not that he blames them. Hell, if they exist they're probably not big fans of the guy that used to slip into church as a kid to pick the lock of the donation box

"Just an americano, please," Dean says regretfully when the barista asks for his order. At least it will keep him warm and fill his stomach for a short while.

Halloween just went by and the weather is becoming really cold. He should use the last of Baby's tank to go as far south as he can before winter really hits. He probably won't get farther than Wichita though, and the thought makes him shiver. No one wants to get stuck for a winter in Wichita. Maybe he could go and see if he can make a few bucks at the nearest motel, that kind of place always needs a handyman's help. He hasn't tried the one on Corn Street yet. He's noticed only two lights are still working on their sign, he could offer to help with that. If he makes fifty bucks, he might be able to reach Austin. 

Dean stops on the sidewalk in front of the coffee shop, pondering if he should walk to the bar a few streets down or the motel. Sometimes Benny, the owner of the bar, lets him use the sink in the back to wash up. If he's lucky, he'll even get some leftovers from last night. It's generally just some stale pretzels, cold fries on good days, but it's still better than nothing. He's got two cans of beans and a car with an near empty tank to his name right now, so he's not picky. 

Dean takes a look at his watch. It's eleven thirty already, the leftovers are probably already in the trash at Benny's. The motel is probably his best bet. 

"I'll give you a hundred dollars if you pretend to be my boyfriend." comes a hoarse voice, way too close to his ear. 

Dean jumps, nearly spilling his coffee on himself. He spins to the right to face the man who just talked and is met with a pair of clear blue eyes. Way too close again. He waits a second for the man to take a step back as he realises as close Dean turning brought them, but the guy just continues to stare at him, head slightly tilted to the side. He's wearing an oversized trench coat over a dark blue suit that looks expensive. He's so close a gust of wind makes the bottom of his coat brushes Dean's shin. 

"Dude, personal space," Dean reproaches, taking a step back. "And fuck off, I don't swing that way," he adds, not meanly. It's not the first time he's getting hit on by a dude. Sadly, not even the weirdest. He's strictly into chicks though, so no dice.

"Two hundred bucks," the man insists. He looks ready to fall on his knees and beg, eyes going wider and wider as he throws a panicked look to the right of Dean's shoulder. "It won't take more than ten minutes and all you have to do is nod along," he begs, making Dean wonders if he's in danger somehow. Maybe he has a stalker or an abusive ex? 

Dean follows his eyes to a woman coming closer. She's very elegant in a grey pantsuit and a long white fur coat as she walks straight toward them. He can feel her eyes judging him even from thirty feet away, looking at him from head to toes. If he wasn't already self-aware of the number of holes in his jeans, he would definitely be under that gaze. 

"Five hundred dollars," the other man whispers just as the blond woman reaches them. 

"Castiel, dear, you should have told me we would have company, I would have notified the restaurant," the woman says, sending a clearly disapproving look toward Dean as she deposits a kiss on the other man's - (Castiel, apparently, what kind of name is that??) - cheek. 

"Mother, let me introduce you to my boyfriend," Castiel says, looking ill at ease. He's obviously not a very good liar. 

Dean blinks a few times as their attention turns toward him. Castiel seems to be trying to communicate something with his eyes, and Dean frowns in incomprehension for a moment before he gets the hint. 

"Huh. Dean. Winchester," he finally says. "Ma'am," he adds when she just continues to stare at him like he has grease smeared all over his face. He's pretty sure that she wouldn't want to touch his hand if he were to offer it to shake, so he doesn't. 

"Naomi Novak," she introduces herself. "What a delight to finally meet Castiel's new companion," Naomi says, her deadpan tone contradicting her words. "Of course, I would have preferred not to be ambushed by such an announcement. Castiel, you know, that Le Délice hates it when we change our reservation last minute. Who knows if they will even have a table for three," she declares, already composing a number on her phone. 

"It's okay, mother, Dean won't be joining us for lunch."

"Oh, is it because your attire isn't appropriate?" Castiel's mother asks, looking at the holes in Dean's jeans and the big leather jacket that used to be his dad's. "I assure you they won't say a word about it if you're with us," she reassures. 

Dean squirms a little, wondering what the hell is even happening. Ten minutes ago he was buying a coffee and going at his day like a perfectly normal person (well, albeit a homeless and jobless one). Now, his fashion sense is being criticized by the mother of a man who is pretending to be his boyfriend. Did a piano fall on his head or something? Has he finally lost his mind?

He looks to the man beside him. He's scratching the side of his neck in nervousness. The move makes his coat fall a little over his wrist, revealing a freaking Rolex watch. Dean looks back to the woman, eyes sliding on her diamond earrings and the huge rock around her neck. 

You know what? That's not okay. His stomach has been crying for food since last morning, and he's what? Supposed to help this stranger by saying no to free lunch at one of the most prestigious restaurants in town? Fuck no. He's gonna eat like a king and make a few hundred bucks off the back of those rich assholes. 

"In that case, it would be my pleasure to join you," Dean announces with his most charming smile. 

"What?" Castiel can't help but bark. "But y-your work thing?" he tries, sweating. The round panic eyes are back. Dean sends him his best shit eating grin. They both know he now either has to invite this stranger to lunch or reveal the lie to his mother. The guy is trapped and may as well continue to play along.

"It's not as important as a chance to finally get to know your mother, honey," Dean answers. "He's told me so many nice things about you, Naomi. Can I call you Naomi?"

"Of course, dear," Naomi says. She looks a little wide eyed too, probably thrown by Dean turning on the charm to the max.

"Perfect! We shall go now, we don't want to miss your reservation. I do hope it won't be too much of a bother for them to add a chair to your table," Dean says. He should probably tone it down with the pompous tone, because he nearly added an English accent here. 

Naomi leads the way, and Dean is going to follow when a hand grabbing his arm makes him fall a few steps behind. 

"What the hell are you doing?" Castiel hisses.

"Acting as your boyfriend?" Dean says innocently. By Castiel's glare, he's not fooled. 

"I asked you to nod silently for ten minutes, not to do method acting for a whole meal," he reproaches. Naomi sends a look behind her shoulder and Castiel smiles at her like there is no worries, indicating for her to lead the way, 

Dean shrugs. "I had some free time."

"I'm not giving you more money than planned, if that's your goal," Castiel says with a suspicious squint. 

"I'm fine with the five hundred as long as you're also paying for lunch," Dean says, wiggling his eyebrows as they walk toward the restaurant. Something passes on Castiel's face that Dean can't quite identify. The other man stares at him for so long that it's a wonder he doesn't trip. He finally relents with a long suffering sigh as they enter 'Le Délice'. 

Apparently, Naomi Novak is prominent enough that they don't mind changing her reservation after all. They're seated at a table near a legit indoor fountain. Dean is looking around, trying not to let show how impressed he is by the place. The walls are made of stone and covered in frescos that he always thought you couldn't see outside of a church or castle. A waiter gives him a leather covered menu and Dean opens it eagerly. After a few niceties to Naomi, they're asked what they want to drink. Dean has an inkling that he probably shouldn't ask for a beer in an establishment like this. 

"Same for me, please," he says after Castiel ordered some wine with a name Dean can't pronounce. At least, he hopes that's wine. Who knows. Hell, in this place the bottles of water are probably more expensive than his usual brand of beer. 

Dean starts to second guess his decision when he realizes that the menu is in french. What is it with rich people and France? He just wants a damn steak, how do you say that in french? Is there even steaks here or is it just frog legs and snails? Oh god, he hopes not. 

"I think I'll take the duck today," Naomi notes. "Nobody cooks it better than chef Francis. How about you Dean? Have you ever come here before?" There is a mean glint in her eyes that says she knows perfectly well he hasn't. Hell, from the side eyes he got from everyone as they crossed the room, everyone here knows he's not from their world. There are three holes in his jeans, threads hanging from the bottom and his dad's leather jacket probably should have ended up in the trash about three years ago. Even now, it's still too big for him and the sleeves are so scruffed that they're nearly paper thin. The original dark brown color has turned to a light beige in most places from wear. His scruff is just the bad side of too long now, and he hasn't had a haircut since April, strands starting to fall into his eyes. At least, he's wearing his best plaid shirt and managed to wash up last night, so he's not smelling too rank. Why would Castiel pick him out of all the people in the street at that moment to play his boyfriend? It makes no sense at all. From the guy's obvious discomfort as he hides behind his menu, he probably realizes it. 

"Actually, Naomi, duck sounds like a delicious idea," Dean says, voluntarily ignoring her question. To be honest, he’s never even eaten duck before, but it's poultry so it probably taste like chicken. You can't go wrong with chicken, right? His stomach certainly likes the idea, gurgling so loudly that he has to hide it behind a cough. 

Castiel ends up ordering some fish and soon their drinks arrive. Dean barely has time to sip at his red wine before Naomi pounces. 

"So, tell me everything, how did you two meet?"

Dean nearly chokes on his drink. Castiel seems to gulp down his whole glass. 

"We met at a coffee shop. Dean was in line in front of me and we started to talk," Castiel explains, not quite meeting anyone's eyes.

"How quaint!" Naomi exclaims, clasping her hands in delight. "I'm just sorry that you didn't tell me about it sooner, Castiel. How long have you been keeping this charming man a secret?"

"Not-," Castiel clears his throat, "-not long."

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you Dean. I sure wish this luncheon will give me the chance to learn everything about you."

Luncheon? Who even talks like that outside of Downton Abbey?

"I do hope I'll get to keep some mystery, we wouldn't want this guy to lose interest," Dean says with a wink. He pats Castiel's hand on the table. Should he hold it or something? How open on PDA are gay people those days? Not that he knows more about how heterosexual couple act in public anyway, especially in those crowds. It's probably safer to keep the PDA to a minimum here. 

"You have to at least tell me some things. For one, what career path are you on?" She looks like a shark circling her prey. 

"I'm a mechanic," he lies. He'd rather stay as close to the truth as possible. It's a little unfair that Castiel is letting him do all the talking when his initial demand was that he stayed silent, especially since it's his skin that Dean is apparently saving, but the guy looks like he's swallowed a potato whole. 

"Oh, that's...interesting," Naomi says in that insincere tone of hers. She looks like he told her he was fucking children’s corpses every full moon. He's two seconds away from telling her that he's actually jobless, penniless, and homeless, just to see her face, when Castiel intervenes. 

"How is Anna's engagement party coming on?" 

Thankfully, this seems to be a subject Naomi loves because she tells them about every aspect of the future party all the way through their meal. 

Duck, as it turns out, is actually very good. It's more like red meat than chicken, which is a great surprise. Although, Dean isn't a fan of the way rich people put tiny quantities of food in very large plates. He eats all the dinner rolls and scrapes every single bit of sauce out of his plate, yet he's still hungry by the end of it. He nearly starts crying when the waiter asks them if they'll take dessert and Naomi declines. He's starting to wonder if that little piece of duck was worth sitting through lunch with her. 

"That sounds like you're turning this into a wonderful event, mother, Anna must be delighted," Castiel compliments. 

"Oh, you know your sister," Naomi waves it off. "It sure feels like a nice opportunity to introduce your new beau to everyone."

Dean frowns. What's a beau? Is that him? That's not him, right?

"I wouldn't dare take any attention away from Anna," Castiel tries to refuse. 

"Don't be daft, you know your sister won't care. Everyone will be so happy that you've finally found-" she passes a long look, over Dean, like she's doubting anyone would actually approve of him. She certainly doesn't seem to, "-someone," she finishes lamely. 

"Oh shoot, I don't think I'm available that night," Dean tries to play off. 

"I'm not sure I've told you the date of it yet."

"Cas did," he says. The other man perks up at the surname, but whatever, 'Castiel' is a mouthful. "And I have this huh work thing, you know? Bummer," Dean says with a fake pout. 

"What kind of 'work thing' can a mechanic possibly have on a Saturday evening?"

Dean tenses up, pursing his lips. "One he can't get out of?"

"Nonsense, you're coming," Naomi brushes off. And that is that apparently. Shit. There is a vein about to pop on Castiel's forehead. "Castiel, dear, you look a little white. Was the fish okay?"

"I-Yeah-I-Actually, do you think we could possibly cut our lunch short? I am indeed feeling quite unwell."

"Of course, my dear," Naomi says, leaning forward until her hand touches his forehead. "You're as clammy as a fish. I should come home with you, and make sure you're okay," she announces, taking her napkin off her lap and deposing it on the table, ready to stand up. 

"No!" Castiel stops her, a little too brusquely. "I-Dean will take good care of me, don't worry," he says, getting up and grabbing Dean's arm so he does so too. Dean follows his lead, all too happy to get out of here. "Stay and enjoy your tea, mother."

"If you say so," Naomi says, sending an unsure look at Dean, obviously upset at being brushed off in his favor. "Call me this evening, or I'll worry all night."

"Of course, mother," Castiel acquiesces, kissing her cheek. Dean hovers behind him. Is he supposed to kiss her too? Wave hello? Shake her hand? 

"Dean," she says as what is apparently a sufficient goodbye. Thank God. "I'll be sure to see you on Saturday," she reminds just as they're walking away. 

Cas turns on him as soon as they're outside the restaurant. 

"What was that?!" he asks, not quite yelling. He starts pacing, rubbing a hand through his already pretty ruffled hair. 

"You owing me five hundred bucks? Dude, you're lucky I don't charge you more for the fresh hell I just lived through."

"You went through hell? You?!" his pacing gets faster and Dean has an idea that if he stops pacing he might punch him in the face. 

"That's what you get for asking this kind of stuff from a perfect stranger," Dean shrugs, pushing a pebble with the point of his shoe. His red sock is peeking out from a tiny hole near his big toe. It's such a contrast to how grand everything and everyone looked in there. It's making him feel like shit. He's maybe feeling a tiny bit guilty for trapping Castiel like that too. He doesn't seem like a bad guy, albeit one with a psycho mom.

Cas turns on him, eyes glaring and mouth open in what will probably be a flow of reproaches. He stops himself before he says anything though, seeming to deflate. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breathe instead, shoulders falling. "I'm sorry. You're right. I should be thanking you. I have no right to make you any reproach when I brought this on myself."

"It wasn't so bad, though, was it? I mean, I think I sold it?" Dean asks, a little hesitant. He even used pedantic talk and everything. 

"You did as well as could be expected."

"That's not much of a compliment…". 

"I shouldn't take more of your time," Cas apologizes, taking his wallet out. Dean goggles at the amount of cash in there. 

"You really shouldn't have that much cash on you, that's, like, asking for trouble."

Castiel squints at him like he's wondering if that means Dean is gonna rob him for a moment, before he hands him a wad of cash. 

Dean's eyes bulge out, "That's way more than five hundred dollars."

"There's also an advance in there to buy some clothes for the engagement party."

"The what now?" Dean blinks dumbly for a second until his brain catches up to what is happening. "Dude, no, I'm done!" 

"You were the one to push it so far in the first place," Castiel reminds. Accuses, really. 

"I just wanted to eat fancy food, okay! Not, like, go steady."

"There will be lots of food at my sister's engagement party," Castiel tries to persuade. Badly. 

Dean gives him a nonplussed look. The cash feels heavy in his hand. He's never had so much before. This could help him get a new start. What's a night of playing Downton Abbey compared to the many many nights he might not have to freeze his ass off in the backseat of his car thanks to it?

"Why are you even doing this anyway? And why would you choose me? Do I look that desperate for cash?"

"No," Cas says after what's definitely a too long pause. Dean scowls. "You were in front of me in the coffee shop line. I heard you talking on the phone. You said you needed some cash to buy a new outfit for a job interview. Begged, really."

"Where the fuck do you get on listening in on other people’s conversation?" 

"I didn't listen, I just heard."

"You know, what? Fuck you," Dean spits, "I don't need that bullshit in my life right now." He has enough cash to get to Austin and replenish his stock of food, even buy some new clothes. At least this way he can keep his dignity rather than being insulted by a bunch of rich assh-

"Please," Castiel begs, following him as Dean storms away. "You don't understand…"

"Oh I understand perfectly," Dean says, stopping and turning around so brusquely that they nearly bump into each other. "You think you can shit on other people from your high horse and that they'll still do your deed for a few hundred bucks. Well, I'm not your freaking puppet, man."

"I have never shitted on any-" he stops himself with a frustrated groan, before turning on the puppy dog eyes. "Dean, please. Listen to what I have to say at least?"

"I know what you're gonna say. I've seen that movie before, Cas. You're going to bring me to that party, so you can parade me around like I'm some earned price or some shit. Meanwhile you get to appease mommy dearest and the clan of hyenas putting pressure on you to find a husband, while still having the satisfaction of giving them a huge fuck you by bringing a guy like me instead of the golden boy they're dreaming of."

"I-" Castiel stops himself, pursing his lips. "That's actually not that far from the reality."

"Of course it isn't. Told you, I've seen that trope before. Except this is real life and your plan sucks, so you can keep your money and I'll keep my dignity. Just grow a pair and tell them all to fuck off, will ya?"

"You sure do like saying that to people," Castiel sulks. "Are you sure you can't do it for me?" 

"Oh believe me I would love to tell your mom to fuck off, but I like my balls attached to my body, so that's a hard pass."

Castiel laughs slightly at that and Dean can feel his own anger start to abate at the sound. "Good self-preservation instinct on your part," Cas mumbles. The puppy look is still there, except now it's making him feel like he's kicked the puppy.  

"You know, we're in the 21st century, right? You shouldn't feel pressured to the point of inventing a boyfriend. Who gives a shit about that nowadays?"

"My family does," Castiel answers in a long sigh. "You don't get it, how could you... I have three brothers, Dean," Castiel explains. "Two sisters. My little sister, who is just nineteen, just got engaged. I was already seen as the irremediably unwed one and now I…," he pauses, sending a nervous look at Dean, looking ashamed.

"Oh come on. How hard can it be? You're rich, objectively good looking. Do you have weird kinks or something?"

 "I-I wouldn't know. I've never even been in a relationship before," he confesses, looking at the ground.

"When you say 'relationship', you don't mean you've never…" Dean inquires. Cas' cheeks redden, and Dean blows like he just got punched. "Wow. That sucks."

"Yes, it's very pathetic."

"What? Eh no, it's not pathetic. Surprising, yeah. But, to each their own, you know?"

Cas inclines his head like he's not sure he does know. 

"I'm sorry I tried to drag you in all of this. You seem like a good man. You don't deserve-"

"-to be served on a platter to your family?" Dean asks, searching Castiel's gaze until they exchange a smile. 

"Yes. That." The man is still looking dejected. The money is still in Dean's hand. That duck really was good. Damn it.

"The food better be freaking awesome," Dean relents with a frustrated grunt. Castiel seems instantly relieved. "And you're not pretty woman-ing me," he warns, pointing a finger at the other man. "I'm choosing my own clothes and I don't give a shit if I don't know which fork to use for fish."

Castiel's head is tilted and he's blinking owlishly, like he doesn't understand a word that Dean is saying. Figures. He's not sure how he could convince anyone that he's this dork's boyfriend, honestly. Naomi certainly looked like she wasn't fooled. 

"I'm sorry for the way my mother behaved toward you. I assure you, being yourself will be amply sufficient to the task."

"Dude, the way y'all talk, where do you come from, Victorian England?"

"I-I don't think I have English ancestry, no. Why?"

They blink at each other for some time. 

"I must be a freaking masochist."

Cas' face scrunches up even more in incomprehension. 

"Okay, let's be clear on one thing from the start. This is not a lifetime movie and I'm straight, so: no falling in love, get it?"

"I get it, Dean," Castiel nods. 

Well, that's it then, apparently Dean is going to a fancy engagement party with his new boyfriend. What a weird day... 

You can read the rest on AO3

[jobean12-blog]

Top Shelf: Chapter 11- The Pages in Between

Pairing: Bucky x reader (Bookshop/bartender AU)

Word Count: 1,637

Summary: You tell Bucky your idea on how to save the bookshop 

Author’s Note: Hey everyone, Happy Monday! I know I say it every time but I’m so thankful for those of you that have stuck with me through this story. It makes me so happy. I’m sure you all saw this coming and that’s ok. As I’ve said before this really is just a love story that hopefully makes you feel good and happy. Thank you again! Thank you all for reading! All my love always! ❤❤❤

Warnings: SUPER FLUFFY LOVE FLUFF, implied sexy times :)

Previous Chapters (* indicates smut)

Chapter 1: Enchantment

Chapter 2: Cookie Crumble

Chapter 3: Sweet Anticipation

Chapter 4: Read Between the Limes

Chapter 5: Secrets on the Shelf

Chapter 6: Love Between the Covers *

Chapter 7: Love Lines & Soul Finds

Chapter 8: Drunk in Love *

Chapter 9: Pour in onto the Page

Chapter 10: Recipe for Love *

His response is almost immediate, your phone lighting up as his message comes through. ‘Really baby?? I can’t wait to hear all about it! I’m not going to lie I’m pretty excited.’ You smile at your phone as your fingers fly over the keyboard. ‘I know, me too. I mean it’s just the beginning of an idea and of course we have to talk about a bunch of things but I’m eager to hear what you think.’

You sink further into the tub, a sigh of contentedness leaving your lips. Just as your eyes begin to close your phone buzzes again. You grab it and read the message. ‘Send me one more pic. I have another two hours before I can get home to you.’ Stifling a giggle, you snap a photo of your legs resting atop the edge of the tub and send it his way. ‘Longest two hours of my life,’ is his reply, followed by, ‘you better be awake when I get home…’

Deciding to leave him hanging you enjoy the rest of the warm water, allowing the bubble bath to do its magic. By the time you get out you’re softer than a baby’s bottom and very relaxed. You put on Bucky’s tee shirt and get into his bed, cuddling into his pillow so you’re enveloped in his smell.

He gets home around 2 am, quietly shuffling into his room to find you peacefully asleep in his bed. The blinds are still open, and the light of the moon reflects off your glowing skin. Bucky sits at the edge of the bed, delicately tracing his fingers over your bare shoulder. Brushing some hair from your face he leans down to kiss the corner of your mouth just as it curls up into a smile.

You roll onto your back and blink open your eyes, tugging on his arm so he lays down. “Hi beautiful,” he whispers as his hands smooth over your silky skin. “I’m sorry if I woke you. I was just…” You silence him with a kiss, any excitement over your idea momentarily forgotten.

For once Bucky sleeps later than you, his bare feet slapping against the floor and jolting you from your thoughts. “How long have you been up doll?” You run over to him and throw yourself into his arms. He easily catches you, peppering your face with kisses. “I made coffee. BUT IT’S SO BAD. So now you have to make coffee.” You give him a sorry look, pushing yourself up and onto the counter while he starts a new pot.

Minutes later he hands you a cup, the delicious, hot liquid warming you from head to toe. “Ok, now that we’ve both had a sip of edible coffee and I can concentrate on what you’re saying rather than trying to get you naked, let’s hear it!” You almost spit out your coffee at this last comment, shaking your head in amusement. “Ok, so. Eeeeeeeee, ok, this coffee isn’t helping, I’m practically buzzing!” you say before you jump down from the counter.

Pacing the floor, you chew your bottom lip as you try to get your thoughts in order. To Bucky’s credit he waits patiently, sipping his coffee quietly and letting you do your thing. “Alright. So, I hate to sound all about myself, but everyone really liked the pie last night, right?” Bucky agrees with no hesitation. “And grandma, you and Nat went nuts over my chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, yes?” Again, Bucky nods enthusiastically, smiling big. “And you and grandma really loved my chocolate pie and chocolate chip cookies?”

Bucky gently grabs your shoulders, bringing you into his chest and looking you straight in the eyes. “Yes, yes and more yes. Your baking is amazing and there is no doubt that everyone agrees.” You can feel the blush creep up your cheeks, your head dropping to hide in Bucky’s chest. Feeling the rumble of his laugh makes you smile, his finger hooking under your chin to bring your eyes to his. “I mean it.”

With a kiss you continue. “Thank you. So, if you guys like it there is no reason that other people wouldn’t like it. What if we added a café or bakery to the bookshop? Or both! I realize that it will cost money and right now that’s the problem. But I haven’t really thought all that through yet. However, I think if we add the baked goods and maybe even coffee and hot chocolate and stuff like that it could draw in more of a crowd. Also, you have a bartending license. Maybe we can do poetry slams and/or trivia nights. We can serve drinks and treats and charge at the door.”

Your hands are flying every which way and you’re talking a mile a minute, your enthusiasm warming Bucky’s heart and making him fall even more in love with you. It isn’t until you’re out of breath and he’s finished his coffee that you finally slow down. “Well?” He stares at you for what feels like forever before he puts down his cup and takes you in his arms.

“I love you. And I love your idea. I definitely think we have some things to figure out and a lot to go over but together I think we can make anything work.” You shake your head yes, too many emotions welling up inside you to speak. You simply press your lips to his and tell him everything he needs to know.

Later that morning you head home to do laundry and clean up, missing Bucky the moment you walk through your door. Luckily, he had the idea to stay over at the bookshop tonight and sleep up in the secret attic space. To say you were excited was an understatement.

You pack a light bag and head over to meet him, but not before grabbing the tin of chocolate chip peanut butter cookies you baked earlier as a surprise for him. The bookshop is closing just as you arrive, and you smile at the customer who is leaving. Bucky runs around the cashier counter and plants a firm kiss on your lips.

“Hi. Missed you.” You shove the tin into his hands and say, “I was just about to say the same thing. I made you something.” Bucky’s eyes widen as he starts to open the tin, bringing it up to his nose and inhaling the delicious peanut butter and chocolate smell. “You made me more?” he asks, face still half inside. “Yes, and you can eat as many as you want, as long as you share with me.”

Popping one into his mouth he gives you a thumbs up, placing the tin down and turning the sign to closed and locking the door. “The pizza just got here 5 minutes ago, and they gave us paper plates and everything.” Your mouth waters at the mention of food. “Ok, great. I’m starving. I have water and more snacks too. Are we eating upstairs?”

Bucky nods, taking the cookies and pizza and walking toward the back. When you get up the stairs and open the door you’re surprised to see that Bucky has hung a small string of star lights over the love seat and made a pile of blankets and pillows in the middle of the floor.

“Aw Buck, it looks so beautiful and cozy! This is going to be so fun.” The two of you settle on the floor surrounded by the pizza box and snacks, your feet touching while you dig into your first slice.  “You have some sauce right there,” Bucky says, leaning in to brush his thumb over your bottom lip. You take his thumb into your mouth and suck off the sauce, closing your eyes and letting out a moan.

When you open them again his lips are only inches from yours.  He carefully takes the pizza slice from your hands. “I was eating that,” you whisper, your eyes dropping to his mouth. “I have something better,” he teases, before pressing his lips to yours.

Laying on the floor amidst the soft blankets and pillows, cradled against Bucky’s chest you watch the rain drops pitter patter against the sky light above you, the lights from the city dancing along the dark walls. The low rumble of distant thunder echoes through the quiet space as you trace small patterns along his bare skin.

“I love summer thunderstorms.” Bucky hums in agreement, his eyes closed and his head resting against one arm while the other holds you close. “Do you think we should tell my grandma our idea?” Bucky’s question catches you off guard and for a second, you’re unsure of what to say. “Well. I think your idea of doing our research and talking to some friends, like Sam, is a good way to start. Maybe after we have a more solid plan we can sit down and show her everything.”

He’s quiet for a few moments, the sound of his breathing and the city below all you hear now that the rain has stopped. “That seems smart. Sam will probably be a big help since he opened the bar at the beginning of the year. And I know he has some other friends in the restaurant business too.” You prop your head up on your elbow and he turns to face you. “Good idea! I like it,” you say, tracing over the stubble on his jaw.

Grabbing your waist, he rolls over and sits you on top of him, the blanket falling from your shoulders. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” You gently roll your hips against him, smiling softly. “Oh Bucky.” The words fall from your lips with a quiet tenderness and the world falls away with every brush of his fingertips.

@aesthetical-bucky @auro-ora @azurika-writes @bugsbucky @buckys-broody-muffin @bucky-on-my-mind @book-dragon-13 @devynsdiary @eurynome827 @hiddles-rose @hailmary-yramliah @emilylyoness @hawksmagnolia @ikaris-whore @itsunclebucky @imgaril-lindru @jhangelface0523 @jewels2876 @loricameback @littledarlinhavefaithinme @littleredstarfish @mushyjellybeans @marvelandotherfandomimagines @marvelgirl7 @nano--raptor @randomfandompenguin @sallycanwait68 @softpeachbarnes @scarletsoldierrr @the-wayward-robot @when-the-hell-is-bucky @throwmyheartawayagain @flyawaybay @amandatar-06 @nd1998sc @captainchrisstan @vherriepie @godofplumsandthunder​ @fire-flv @jamesbarnesappreciationclub @irishflutiegirl​ @rinthehufflepuff​ @moonybarnes​ @nordlysinthewoods​ @inflxmes @lauratang​ @my-favorite-fics-and-imagines​ @buchanansebba​ @addikted-2-dopamine​

[justablobfish]

Finding a present for that person that is impossible to find a present for

Day 13 of my Advent Calender. A new drabble or oneshot everyday until Christmas, following the Continent’s favourite found family and what they’re up to in the winter season. Based on this prompt list

Read on AO3

Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

______

It's going to be Jaskier’s second time visiting Kaer Morhen. 

Two years ago, Geralt had asked him only a few days before they were scheduled to separate for the winter. It had all been rather sudden and the whole season had passed in a blur of anxiety and excitement.

He hadn't even met the whole family then, Geralt's little brother Lambert hadn't made it to the keep that year. Then, the year after, Jaskier got delayed by his family until he couldn't make it to the keep anymore; the path had already snowed over. 

This year though - this year Jaskier is determined to make the most of his time at Kaer Morhen and charm his way into the hearts of Geralt's family until they can't imagine winter without him anymore. 

Step one is to make a good first impression after the Wolves haven't seen him in so long. And the easiest way to do that is to get the perfect welcome gift for everyone scheduled to be there. 

He comes across the first gift mere weeks after the snow of the previous winter has melted. After the tedious experience with his parents he decides to spend some time in Oxenfurt to recuperate. 

In his favorite dingy little bookstore he finds the perfect present for Eskel. 

Yes, yes, a steamy romance novel might not necessarily be the best way to prove himself to his lover's family, but the cover of the book shows your usual handsome warrior with very revealing clothing clutching a swooning damsel in distress in his overly muscular arms. Except this protagonist is drawn with an enormous scar covering the left side of his face. 

He's extremely handsome. So is Eskel, of course, but whenever Jaskier tells him as much he just dismisses the compliment. With this book though, Eskel will have to believe him that scars are seen as attractive by quite a number of people. Why else would they draw the cover like this? 

His second gift he also finds in a bookstore, though this place couldn't possibly be more different than where he found the book for Eskel. 

The "Ye Olde Books" in Toussaint sells only the most esteemed antiquities to rich noblemen who never intend to read them and only display them to prove their supposedly good taste and to exaggerate their riches. 

Jaskier quickly determines the oldest book the store has on offer. It's still younger than the recipient of the gift, of course, but the fairy tale stories it holds should still be similar enough to the stories that must have been popular when Vesemir was a child. 

After the events of the last winter Jaskier at least managed to guilt trip his parents enough that he has no trouble paying for the delicate tome. 

As for Lambert, Jaskier didn't meet him the one year he spent at Kaer Morhen, but he and Geralt ran into the younger Witcher on the Path once. It was a brief encounter and Lambert didn't seem to particularly like Jaskier. 

Geralt reassured him afterwards that it's nothing personal and that Lambert doesn't like anyone. 

Even though they couldn't possibly be more different, Lambert somewhat reminded Jaskier of himself. Jaskier is happy with his place in the world now, but he had to carve it out for himself, which hadn't always been easy. He remembers a time when he, too, felt trapped in the life he was born into, never good enough to satisfy his parents or to become a person in his own right, not just the heir to a legacy he wanted nothing to do with. 

So the bitterness Lambert carries around with him feels very familiar. 

His third gift, therefore, is just as expensive as Vesemir's and on top of that requires a large amount of convincing to work out. Luckily, Jaskier has practice annoying someone enough until they agree to anything. He spent most of his life perfecting the skill with the involuntary help of his lover.

By the time winter comes around again, the specially commissioned Gwent card will have started distribution. Though of course Jaskier will carry a copy of the new Lambert hero card with him as well and present it to Geralt's younger brother. He's made sure it would be stronger than the White Wolf card that became popular in recent years. 

Ciri's gift is easy enough. Jaskier simply buys the biggest, fluffiest teddy bear he can find. Ciri is going to roll her eyes at him and claim that she isn't a kid anymore, but that's exactly what makes it the perfect present. With all that destiny business, the kid forgets far too often to allow herself to be a child sometimes. 

How to get this monstrous thing, which is nearly as tall as Jaskier, back to Kaer Morhen is an entirely different story, though… 

The gift for Yennefer isn't hard to find either once he meets up with Geralt and travels with him again. In a run-down little general store in a village in the middle of nowhere, in the furthest corner of the shop, hidden under a fishing net and a set of gardening tools, lies the most atrocious knitted sweater Jaskier has ever seen. There's no reason to abandon old traditions, even if he and Yennefer don’t meet up at Oxenfurt anymore. And in case Yennefer doesn't attend Kaer Morhen this winter, he'll simply keep it around until the next time they meet. The knitwear is so incredibly ugly, it would be a shame to waste it. 

Geralt informs him one day that Lambert will bring a plus one. Not a boyfriend or close friend or anything, just a superficial acquaintance. The fact that Lambert risked his own hide to save the man's life is - apparently - entirely coincidental and without meaning. It's just that this other Witcher of the Cat school has no other place to spend the winter. Nothing more. 

Geralt calls his little brother an emotionally constipated idiot and Jaskier can't help but burst out laughing at the hypocrisy. 

Jaskier isn't sure whether to get this Aiden a gift as well since he never met the man, but as so often in his life, fate takes matters into its own hands. 

He's perusing his favorite clothes store in Vizima when he finds the most beautiful scarf. It's big and woolen and perfectly flashy. Every handspan or so the pattern and colours change completely. All in all it shows every colour of the rainbow. 

That is not the gift for Aiden, of course. But it's going to look great on Jaskier, especially since Geralt still insists he wears that old grey winter cloak. Granted, the cloak is warm, but oh so boring looking. The scarf will be just the right accessory to add a bit of color to his winter wardrobe. 

The gift for Aiden he comes across as he leaves the store. A little boy, who must be the owner's son, sits at the side of the road and busies himself with thread and needle. 

Curious, Jaskier steps closer and finds that the boy is attaching pieces of felt to a simple hairband. 

Once the kid is done he puts the headband on and the felt pieces stand up in such a way that it appears like the boy has kitten ears growing out of his head. 

Jaskier considers for a moment but then decides that if this Aiden is voluntarily hanging out with Lambert, he must have a good sense of humor. He buys the headband off the boy and heads back to his and Geralt's inn room. 

Maybe it's because he's traveling with Geralt and can't really go looking for a gift for the White Wolf, but by the time their departure for Kaer Morhen rolls around, Jaskier has a little something for everyone, except Geralt. He doesn't even have an idea what he could gift to the man. Anything practical like a new whetstone, better armor or a fancy dagger is something that Geralt is far better equipped to pick out himself. Jaskier has little knowledge about such things. 

And while Jaskier has spent the last twenty years of his life convincing the big oaf that he deserves pretty things every once in a while, too, Jaskier can't think of anything that wouldn't just be in the way when they eventually set out on the Path again. 

The end of autumn creeps closer and closer and Jaskier’s head stubbornly remains empty. It shouldn't be this hard to think of something that Geralt would enjoy. After all, Jaskier has known him for over two decades now. But it seems like everything he could get his favorite Witcher he has already gotten him at some point during their travels. 

He still has no idea when they pass the last village on the way to the Witchers’ keep. 

Or when they start making their way up the mountain path. 

Maybe there's a pretty rock he can pick up? 

What? No, that's a dumb idea. He's not just gonna pick up a random rock just because he's desperate. At this point he'll just have to accept the fact that he has no gift for Geralt.

They reach the keep after two days of tedious climbing - not something Jaskier missed from his last visit - and are greeted at the gates by the other Witchers. Geralt's family members each welcome Geralt with a short hug and a pat on the back, while another man, who must be Lambert's tagalong, awkwardly stands to the side. Vesemir and Eskel nod at Jaskier courtly, Lambert only grunts at him. 

Jaskier makes eye contact with Aiden who rolls his eyes at him apologetically over Lambert's behaviour. 

Then Geralt brings Roach to the stables and they all quickly make their way inside. 

In the large dining hall they meet Yennefer and Ciri. Apparently they only came here a day earlier via portal, making Jaskier and Geralt the last to arrive. 

"I have welcoming gifts!" Jaskier addresses everyone. 

Eskel reacts to his present with eyes narrowed in confusion. Then they grow wide with realisation and wonder. 

Lambert scoffs when Jaskier hands him his parcel. He doesn't scoff again after he unpacks it. 

Aiden grins at him widely and immediately puts his gift on. 

Vesemir simply hums appreciatively. It reminds Jaskier far too much of Geralt. He supposes the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. 

Ciri, as expected, reacts with a pout and the declaration that she's not a child anymore. Still, she clutches the plushy to her chest and refuses to let it go when Aiden says he'll take it if she doesn't like it. 

Yennefer snarls at her sweater and quickly turns away from the group to hide it, but just like Ciri does with the teddy bear, she clutches it to her chest protectively. 

Which only leaves Geralt. 

"I, uh…, " Jaskier stutters and stares at his empty hands. 

"Hmm," Geralt hums. "Saving the best for last?" 

He grabs Jaskier by the shoulder, turns him around so that he's facing the room. He hugs Jaskier from behind and places his chin on Jaskier’s shoulder. 

"Seems like you got me the best gift of all," Geralt hums. "Look!" 

Confused, Jaskier glances about the room. Vesemir and Eskel are sitting in a corner, flipping through their respective books. Lambert is chasing Aiden through the room, who has stolen his Gwent card and is waving it around tauntingly. Ciri holds the teddy out to Yennefer, who's holding her sweater to the bear's chest to see if it would fit him. There's nothing out of the ordinary that Jaskier can spot. 

"I don't under-" he begins. 

"Everyone's here," Geralt explains. "My whole family in one place for the very first time. I couldn't possibly ask for more." 

[touchmycoat]

I LOVE YOUR PORN AU!!!!! LIKE SO MUCH - and i'm just. if you don't mind me asking, how - the way you flesh out the characters, their motivations, and feelings in every scene in such an eloquent way, and just little things here and there, a habit or an activity that adds dimension to who they are, and - your prose is wonderful. you achieve this addictive, engrossing narrative space that readers just absolutely melt into, and i have to ask - how did you develop your writing style? 1/2

what books did you read that formatively shaped the way you write? or you know, what did you do to improve your writing? i'm so in awe of how you world-built and established the porn au - like lqg & hc being national taolu champions?? how do you come up with that stuff? i cannot comprehend the amount of research and effort that must've gone into porn au, and i'm just so deeply thankful that you decided to share that with us. i apologize if i'm coming on too strong, but wow. thank you 2/2

--

oh my god please don't apologize, when i saw your ask i rolled on the floor giggling hysterically for a solid 15 min, bless your heart

part of the answer to your question—i've taken like, 8 years' worth of creative writing classes/workshops! there was also a transnational literary component to my degree so whenever possible, i took literature classes fksjdfksd so whatever you see and like is definitely the result of a lot of work. My writing from not even 10 years ago but like, 5? horrid, ridiculous, wild, cringe. The Porn AU itself is the second draft of a MUCH more lackluster piece.

about my writing style. gosh, you really know how to make a writer blush. "I like your writing style" is literally an instant kill LMFAO okay okay, the useful answer: my primary criteria for choosing what to write is, don't be obvious, be interesting. Fiction tells us to show, not tell, right? Poetry is about concretizing the abstract. Screenwriting says cut all useless lines. A lot of writing rules and advice—never start with the weather, avoid detailed descriptions of the characters, don't use adverbs, etc.—are all really about this exact sentiment.

I once took a seminar on writing for horror movies. The golden rule of the horror genre is Never Show the Monster, because whatever the audience is imagining is always going to be scarier than what you actually show them. There are obviously exceptions to this (to all writing rules), but in my mind, it's all the same principle.

LONG answer under the cut

So you start with building a scene. I approach it like essay-writing—I state my thesis for the motivations/main propulsion of the plot. "In this scene, LQG and SY are motivated to save Cang Qiong's porn production, so they have sex on camera." Then you build the sub-motivations: "LQG is also doing this because he's pining after SY."

I learned this "thesis-writing" from theater, specifically from writing 10-min plays. Theater is all about characters being driven by their wants and needs, and the reason I say 10-min plays in particular is because longer forms of writing will give you more leeway, but in 10-min, you pretty much need your character motivations established from their very first line. That's why you need that very clear thesis for yourself—if you don't even know what the character wants from the get-go, then you can't establish who they are, what they want, and where they're going to go in a dynamic and interesting way.

So this thesis drives EVERYTHING that happens in your scene, just like an actual thesis for an essay, just like topic sentences for your paragraphs. Once I do this, I have the emotional direction & narrative scope of how much this scene will cover, I have a sense of where it begins and ends. "Begin with the dynamics of their sex. LQG starts showing signs of his feelings. Reveal LQG backstory for exactly what those feelings are and why he isn't telling SY. The rest of the scene implies that LQG's feelings may not be so unrequited, but also sets up the fundamental problem at the heart of the whole fic—SY's inability to comprehend his own feelings." This is kind of my new thesis now. They're having sex; LQG pines; SY doesn't know he himself is pining.

Now it's time to manifest. This is the "storytelling" part, and the hardest lmfao.

Personally, my approach is largely shaped by my very cool screenwriting teacher, who hammered into us: don't fucking waste lines. The Golden Rule of screenwriting is that every line should reveal something new. I found my old writing kind of repetitive, especially on the emotional front, so this is kind of my editing mantra now—is this line either propelling the story or revealing character? If it's revealing character, is it a revelation that has to happen right now, or is it slowing the momentum of the scene?

But these aren't rhetorical questions! "Momentum" doesn't just mean tumble forward as fast as you can, it also means taking the time to draw the bowstring back further, so your next move has even more propulsion. That's why you get the little "LQG has been in love with SY..." cut scene in the middle of the fucking (at least, that's my reasoning for putting it there). Every line has to bring a fresh revelation that "proves" your thesis further.

That brings me to the details. You said you like the details I inject into the world-building, and honestly that's so gratifying to hear, because that means I'm successfully manifesting my intentions, y'know? "Every line has to bring new info" kind of sounds like a tall order, but the most effective way I've seen it done in books and onstage/onscreen is with these hyper-specific details. If you're writing a scene in which someone feels dirty, never have them just say that—have them say they want to take a shower. Show them running out of bleach again as they scrub down the stall after they wash. Begin the scene like "Steve always washes his throat first now." Then pack the scene with even more revelatory details: "Soap in hand, he heard the pipes above his head groan for a half note on adagio, and readied himself for the blast of icy water that always followed." Shitty shower, probably not rich, is likely a classical musician.

By the same token, I want to build LQG's character. The "Liu Qingge has been in love with Shen Yuan" section is the first insight we get into his background and perspective, right, so: I need to establish LQG's emotional context for filming this scene -> I can characterize him as a nut for martial arts in the same stroke -> so this takes place at a gym, beating up sandbags is a classic way of showing manly emotional distress -> so give me more details on this gym -> Puqi Gym, XL the martial god is obviously the owner -> how do I have XL & LQG a relationship beyond gym owner & client? They spar together -> I want XL & HC's position in this AU to mirror their god/ghost king statuses in TGCF canon -> how can I concretize their fighting prowesses in real-world details? -> they're martial arts champions -> what's an actual competitive martial art form that involves weaponry? -> wushu -> wikipedia Wushu, find taolu weapons sparring

(I just realized that in my songxiao daycare AU, Hualian are Olympic gold medalists by the same narrative logic laksjdnflaksjdnflsd)

So, that's the flow of logic behind my world-building lmao. It's all in the details. Leverage is one of my all-time favorite TV shows and the way they build their stories is super inspiring. If their thesis is "the rich and powerful take what they want, we steal it back for you," they manifest it in the most specific and concrete narratives: mine workers who like the work but are fighting for workplace safety vs. the money-grubbing mine owner who will blow up their livelihoods if it means a bigger payday; the little girl from Iraq with refugee status forced to be an accomplice to antique smuggling vs. international smuggler with a fetish for British royalty.

Last pieces of writing advice I've gotten: pay attention to the real world. A writing exercise we did was just sit in a public spot and make concrete observations on our surroundings. There are stories in everything!!! I learned to observe things like weird holes in the concrete (earthquake? drilling accident? bullet mark?), odd patches of moss or bird shit (look overheard: it's an AC unit dripping water for the former and nesting swallows for the latter), ladies in flipflops walking alongside ladies in high heels (excited mother walking her antsy daughter to the bus for the daughter's first job interview—the daughter's shirt collar is unfashionable and she's taking the bus, so there's a good chance the shoes were passed down, maybe from an office lady aunt. Maybe she's even overdressed for the interview, so will her outfit be an unintended source of tension once she gets to the interview? Is it a group interview, to make the comparison more stark?).

Also, write what you know. You know why SY is a video editor in porn AU? Because I'm a video editor. One of my more popular MDZS fics is set in a plant shop 'cause I worked in a plant shop. SL was First AD in Bachelor!AU 'cause I was First AD on a set once. Concrete details like the editing software having a split-screen, always answering questions about how often to water plants, and being up until 3AM editing call-sheets are the ones that will fully immerse your readers.

And if you can't do the actual things, just watch someone who is, listen to them talk, pick up lingo, and fake it. I watched like a 15-min vox video on fencing for the fencing!AU and a 45-min music theory video on the hospital pianist!AU (also I started learning piano sklfjnlsdjlfkjsd). Of course, I just finished reading a wangxian fic that had me going, "holy fucking shit, the author is literally getting their masters in a music program" so my 45-min youtube video ain't shit, but if you just need a little bit of character establishment, then it's enough to do the trick.

Anyways, tl;dr. Find the details, find the tension. Never tell outright what the tension is supposed to be, manifest it instead. Make the manifestation as interesting as possible, and if it's meant to be funny, make it funnier.

Sorry this turned into a fucking lecture lskjnflskdjnflskd but last thing, someone asked me before if I had formative authors, and this was the list I wrote at the time:

Angels in America (play) by Tony Kushner

The God of Small Things (novel) by Arundhati Roy

The Penelopiad (novel) by Margaret Atwood

“Litany in Which Certain Things are Crossed Out” (poem) by Richard Siken

Night Sky with Exit Wounds (poetry) by Ocean Vuong

Giovanni’s Room (novel) by James Baldwin (and then Go Tell it on the Mountain and then his essays)

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

And, ooh, now that I have this list I think I can even roughly sort it as such: Kushner, Atwood, Siken, and Salinger I really latched onto for their dialogue and very present narrator voice—same is true for Go Tell it on the Mountain. Roy, Vuong, and Giovanni’s Room, I think, are texts more representative of the kind of saturated figurative language I like, and emulate. Of course they all do imagery and voice and overall structure amazingly, but that’s the rough dividing line I’d draw.

But yeah James Baldwin is my fucking hero.

[daddychims]

Offside Pt 12

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12

Series Masterlist!

Genre: Smut, Soccer AU, College AU

Pairings: Soccer Player! Jungkook X Sports Trainer! Reader

Word Count: 2k

Other BTS members all make a cameo as well because I’m an OT7 Trash!

You work as a sports trainer, providing basic first aid and injury management for the Hanguk University’s soccer team. Going with your mundane life of caring for the dozen of guys hurting themselves in the soccer game takes a turn when one of the guys catches your eyes. It’s not his breathtakingly good looks or his muscular athletic body usually seducing girls at the campus that catches your eyes. But the action plan in your kit, indicating he is diagnosed with Asthma is what draws your eyes time and time again to the Golden Boy of Hanguk University.

Warning: Slow burn, eventual smut, Taehyung being a freaking tease the whole time, Also Jimin not letting the female MC live for one day, Fuckboy!Jungkook, Asthmatic! Jungkook , mentions of episodes of Asthma, Take your Ventolin kids, Take your medications kids!

You hesitantly knock and wait for the guy’s sweet voice calling “Come in” before twisting the doorknob and entering doctor Kim’s room. He brings his eyes up to you and flashes you his usual sweet smile as he points at the chair in front him “Come in, who caused trouble this time?”

“No one,” you quickly shake your head to reassure him, unzipping your bag as you take out the green colored journal “I’m here to talk to you about this Dr Kim!”

Your heart sinks at his sweet smile fading on his lips, expression immediately sunken as he murmurs “He didn’t accept, did he?”

“He did,” you speak up, not bearing to give the young doctor more heartache “He said he’ll do it?”

“Really?” The young doctor immediately shifts in his seat, face lighting up with hope “Jeon accepted to do the diary? How?”

“Yeah,” you nod with a reassuring smile “I’m checking on him three times a week, plus two days of training that I’m on shift.”

“Wow,” the words slip out of his lips and he hesitates for a few moments before sighing in relief “It doesn’t feel real,” He then reaches to hold your hand as he mutters “Thank you, Y/N.”

“That’s fine,” you smile, cheeks blushing at the sudden contact of his hand on yours, after 2 years you still cant deny you'd risk it all for the etheral looking guy “I’m glad it worked out.”

“So when are you guys starting?” You almost pout when he pulls his hand away as he quickly types a few things on his computer “Can I book you in for weekly meetings with myself, so I can review his diary as well?”

“Sure, I can come in an hour before the training on Fridays if that works for you.”

“Sounds good,” he nods before pausing his typing and looking at you “Instead I’ll talk to the admin team and we’ll add an hour to your roster. You’re not doing this for free on my watch.”

“I- I’m not doing this for money,” You quickly interject “It’s a great experience for me too! I appreciate this opportunity as it is. ”

“Of course you do,” he nods before sending you a warm smile “but I really appreciate what you’re doing too. But you’re sacrificing you time and only then I’d feel comfortable for taking your time.”

“Alright!” you nod as you quickly reach inside your bag “Dr Kim, I had a question …”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I have a friend who’s quitting smoking,” you start with a hesitant tone, hoping that he doesn’t pick on who exactly you’re talking about “I heard that the side effects can be quite bad in the beginning. Is that true?”

“Well it depends on each person,” Dr Kim nods “but often the first few days can be quite rough, has your friend try nicotine gums or patches?”

“I- I’m not sure!”

He quickly reaches for his drawer and grabs a small rectangular box and places in front of you “This is a nicotine gum sample I usually give my patients, give this to your friend and ask him to give it a go. If this doesn’t work, he should try the patches, they’re usually stronger and have a more lasting effect.”

“Thank you,” you quickly grab the box “I’ll have him give it a go and see how he goes.”

“I’m glad I was any help,” he says with a wide grin before looking at the clock “ You have training in a bit. I’ll see you Friday then.”

“See you then Dr Kim!”

You quickly leave his room and make your way downstairs to the changing room to prepare your kit for the training when you find Jungkook sitting in the changing room, scrolling on his phone. When he hears your footstep, he looks up at you, raising one eyebrow

“Hey,” you wave hesitantly as you place your backpack on the table “What’s up?”

“I was looking for my inhaler,” he shrugs pointing at one of the draws “I couldn’t find it there.”

“Oh right,” you quickly rush to one of the cabinets and grab your kit “I forgot to put it back after the last training,” you quickly grab the inhaler and the spacer and walk back to where he’s sitting “Sorry about that!”

He grabs the inhaler and moves it closer to his lips but pauses as he notices your demanding gaze on himself “What?”

“The spacer,” you wave the plastic device in front of him “10% more medication? More useful? did you forget?”

He sighs looking away from you before muttering “Well since you’re here, why don’t you do it for me?”

“What-“ you gasp as he reaches for the back of your waist and pulls you on his lap. You stumble forward and have to hold onto his shoulders to balance yourself as you plop down on his lap, face a few inches away from his “What are you doing?” you ask as he locks his hands tightly around you

“You’re not gonna give me medication standing, would you?” He rolls his eyes as he hands you the inhaler

“What if the guys come here,” You shift uncomfortably, peeking at the door “They’ll get the wrong idea.”

“Isn’t that better for you?” He shrugs “Maybe they’ll think you’re taken and stop checking out your ass!”

“No one checks out my ass-“

“Mhmm,” he nods with a knowing smile “Sure, they don’t imagine what they’ll do to you when you bend waist down to grab the bottles of water wishing you could quench their other thirst.”

“Guys are disgusting!” you cringe and put the spacer and inhaler together and bring it up to place it between his lips “Don’t forget, head up, push your tongue!”

“God, you have a specific way of giving instructions” He smirks as he cups your neck and whispers “I’ll definitely use that when you finally suck my dick. I don’t like too much tongue.”

“Jeon, don’t test my patience,” you sigh “I’ll shove this spacer down your throat.”

“I’ll take my chance,” he smirks “As long as I can have my cock down your throat.”

You shake your head in defeat as you actually shove the spacer between his lips “I’ll press the canister and start counting, don’t breathe out too quickly.”

He just watches you with his deer like eyes as you press the canister and start counting, watching his chest as he holds his breath and finally releases it after you finish on the count of 10.

“You can do the second one yourself right?” you quickly move off his lap “the guys will barge in any second, we don’t want them to see us like this.” You quickly prepare your kit as you hear him

“Why not?”

You turn around and watch him stare at you with questioning eyes

“Because you said you don’t want anyone to see us together.” You furrow your eyebrows

“What?” he asks in a confused tone “when did I say that?”

“The day I was at your place,” you say defensively “you said you don’t want anyone to see us together, so Its better for me to come to your place for the checkup.”

“I didn’t say that,” he rolls his eyes “I said I don’t want anyone to see us!”

“W-What’s the difference,” You ask with a lost tone “potatoes, potAtoes,” you smile as you quickly look away to hide your emotions “You have a reputation to hold up. I get it Jeon, Don’t worry!” you say as you quickly cut the tapes into pre-measured pieces

“What reputation? What are you talking about?” he asks as he finally stands up and walks to you, grabbing your arm and stopping you from your fiddle with the tapes

“I’m talking about your reputation as the Hanguk’s Golden boy,” you say matter of factly trying not to show that voicing out the words actually hurts you pride “I’m not dumb. Being seen around campus with a girl like me is not gonna do your reputation any favor.” you keep it together and try to sound as cool as you can although you know deep down you’re not cool.

“What’s wrong with a girl like you?” He scoffs

“I- I mean,” your eyes wander around slightly embarrassed to respond, “I’m a nerd, compared to the girls that are usually around you. You know what I mean?”

“No, I don’t know what you mean!” Jungkook responds with a cold tone, shutting you off

“OH-“ you gulp slightly nervous about his icy response, It’s not like you said anything bad about him, you only depreciated yourself in this conversation and he looks offended as if you called HIM a nerd “I didn’t mean it in a bad way- I mean those girls are hot, like so fucking hot I would have a crush on them. And then there is me, like look at me-“you laugh nervously but stop mid-sentence when finally speaks up

“Y/N, just shut up,” he shakes his head and closes his eyes and you nervously press your lips together, physically trying to seal them so no words come out “When I said I don’t want anyone to see us-“ he pauses biting the corner of his lips as he adds “it’s because I don’t want anyone knowing I have asthma.”

“W-What?” you ask even more lost than you were a few minutes ago

“Its because of my asthma!” he sighs “That’s why I said I don’t want anyone to see us,” he hesitates before adding “while I’m taking my medication.”

“Oh,” you breath out and immediately start hating yourself for being so dumb “I-I’m so sorry!” you bite your lips

“It’s fine,” he gulps and for the first time you see a side of him you’ve never seen before, the vulnerable side you always wondered if the Hanguk’s Golden boy even possess behind his rough and cocky exterior

“Jungkook, but-” you hesitate as he brings his glazy eyes to you “There is nothing wrong with having a condition like asthma. Its not like you've chosen to have asthma, you were born with it. that’s why I didn’t even guess that’s the reason,” you pause a few seconds waiting for him to respond but his sorrowful eyes tells you he’s still not convinced “Coming so far you have despite it all, being the best in your team and in your school as an athlete, If I was you, I would have worn It like a medal. This is nothing you should be ashamed of or hide.”

He stares at you, eyes wavering on you as if he’s trying to decide whether he should trust your words or not. You see a glimpse of all the self-hatred and blame he’s put himself and his body for not keeping up with his peers, the pain of having to pave a path rockier than everyone else but having to hide it all because of the fear of judgement.

“You don’t get it,” he finally voices out, looking away from you “try living with these fucked up lungs and I’ll see if you can be proud.”

“I’m sorry,” you quickly nod, reaching to squeeze his arms “I’ll never know how you feel since I’ve never experienced it, but,” you gulp “I can reassure you, you never have to be ashamed of it with me.”

He brings his gaze back to you and look at you with something different this time. A look of amusement, tinted by something more … something you can’t put your finger on and the fast beating of your heart urges you to not pry further so you do what you can do best and mutter

“But you should be ashamed that you smoke though,” you say jokingly with a fake frown and his lips curl into a smile “I’ll always shame you for that one.”

“Whatever,” he laughs “I quitted for you anyways.”

For you? You furrow your eyebrows hearing his words and are about to question them when he cups your cheeks

“Look, I need to get this straight,” he says in a rushed tone “I’m not embarrassed to be seen with you,” he says in a firm tone “And I don’t want you to think like that about me.”

“F-Fine, I got you now,” you nod with an anxious smile, trying to reassure the guy “We’re cool!”

“Those girls,” he starts anxiously “The girls you said are surronding me, I don’t care about any of them.” He hesitates as if he’s chewing his next few words “If only you’d want-“

Your eyes widen at the expense of his words that you guess will follow, but you don’t get enough chance to hear them when the door opens with a loud thump and Taehyung enters the changing room, calling for you at the top of his lung

“SUGAR, YOUR TAE TAE IS HER-“he looks at the way Jungkook is standing again you and immediately yells “FUCK, YOU GUYS ARE-”

You reflexively push against Jungkook and quickly rush to your kit and grab the heavy box, trying to not make any contact with Tae as you mutter “I’ll let you guys change, see you later!”

You quickly push past the bewildered guy standing at the door, grateful that he doesn’t block your way on the way out as you rush away from the changing room to the field, trying to forget whatever happened in there …

[ladyhaesoo]

hotel blue moon | 7

"Zombie Kid. Have you read my books?"

“I’m too old for fairytales.”

part 1 | part 6 | part 8 | read on page (not for the mobile app, but prettier)

a/n: han sejoo is from chicago typewriter, a drama about writers and ghosts!

Unfortunately, trips must end, and at the end of them one must return to reality. For Moonyoung, that meant Sangin.

He appeared at her hotel room carrying bags of food and a deep, deep frown. Moonyoung and Kangtae had stopped at another roadside restaurant on the way back and eaten some cheap meat, but Moonyoung never said no to food. She was always still hungry anyway.

She let him set things up on the table, mostly ignoring when she knocked some empty cups over. "How was your trip?" he inquired, mixing the noodles and serving them into a ridiculous paper plate. "Where did you go?" He had that tone on, like he was trying to scare her with polite inquiries. She rolled her eyes.

"Hwaseong. It was fun."

"And Moon Kangtae?"

She could almost still feel his leg pressing against hers like it had in that cafe. Skin, fabric. His eyes on her, from every slow line up her legs to the quick scan after that man had almost hit her. Had fun? he'd asked. "He was fun too," she said finding her lips curling into a satisfied smirk—you'd almost think something had happened. And while it was a true shame that nothing had, there was always the next time, and the next time, and the next. Moonyoung had absolutely no intention of leaving the man alone now.

"Moonyoung," Sangin was saying, and she rolled her eyes and dragged herself back to the far less interesting present company. "Do you like him? Do you want him?" His tone was accusatory and annoying, but she didn't care.

"Yes. Moon Kangtae. I guess everyone I like is a Moon. Did the Moon clan do me a favour in a past life?"

Sangin didn't even bother to look offended. "Moonyoung, you don't know anything about him! You can't just go off on a trip like that with a stranger! Hwaseong? That's hours away! What did you do? "

"Ruined an election," she said, then held up a hand when Sangin looked like he'd burst a vessel or three. "Don't worry, none of the cameras were on me, and I wasn't recognised."

"Who the hell is this guy?" Sangin muttered. "Seungjae told me she gave you that report on him. I went to that hotel. That place isn't any fancy hotel. Ruined an election? They don't even have a website! This guy isn't trustworthy, Moonyoung."

Her smile dropped. That, at least—was true. About the hotel, anyway. As for trust—she didn't trust anyone, and she was too smart to be scammed and too violent to get hurt. Sangin, of all people, should know that. But the hotel... it remained a problem. Oh, she'd asked him a few questions, but his answers hadn't been particularly helpful, and she'd pushed it aside in favour of more interesting things, but... "I don't want his hotel," she told Sangin all the same, because she wasn't interested in him being right or reasonable. "I want him.”

Still, once Sangin was gone, she looked up Hotel Blue Moon and—

—he was right. No website.

She dreamed of the hotel once again. Towers rose into the sky, a palace grander than the one she hadn't seen in years, with pointed roofs and balustraded balconies. Windows both lit and unlit left a pretty silhouette on the night sky. And above all of it—a shining blue crescent.

They met for dinner at a mall near the restaurant where she had a short reading. She waited at the exit once everyone had left, tapping her foot. Sangin had tried to convince her out of it, but Moonyoung had ignored him until he left, looking disgruntled and snapping at the art director.

Kangtae arrived, looking—somehow—even better than usual. She smirked when he got to her, tilting her head back. "We match," she said, and he looked between the cream collars of his shirt, and her own matching outfit, and nodded. "Shall we?"

The restaurant was close enough to walk, which was perhaps not ideal, as Moonyoung was still tossing up whether or not she would drag him back to her hotel room after dinner. It depended on how the night went, she supposed—though looking at the fit of that suit, she was leaning just a little more towards it. "Was that a signing?" he asked as they approached a crossing.

She hummed. "A reading." An American businessman who was apparently a very big fan had made a deal with Sangin to push distribution at his existing stores in the US, and in return she was one of the writers doing a reading at the brand new opened store. The eye of attention, fortunately, was not on her but on thriller novelist Han Sejoo—fortunate because, as much as she liked attention, she did not want cameras hovering around her before her date. Since Han Sejoo was there, they had all run after him, which made for a nice change.

"What did you read?" he asked.

She looked at him. "Zombie Kid. Have you read my books?"

He shook his head no. "I'm too old for fairy tales."

She scoffed. "Is there a rule that says adults can't read fairytales? You're not that old—the perfect age."

Kangtae looked amused, though she couldn't think why. "I'm older than you think."

She leaned up as much as her heels could allow, as though checking for wrinkles. "Are you? How much older? A few months? A year or two?" She mock-gasped. "Are you a vampire?"

Kangtae's let his mouth slowly pull open, teeth glinting as he smirked at her, and she barely avoided visibly shaking. That was—definitely intentional. Bastard. "You've caught me. I'm a hundred of years old vampire. Is that in one of your fairytales?"

The crossing lights stopped. They were two minutes from the restaurantùbut only ten from the parking lot where her car was, and a fifteen minute drive to her hotel room. Dinner was suddenly less appetizing than taking him there. "Eat me and it will be," she said, leaning to say it almost into his ear.

Kangtae looked, just for a second, like he was really going to eat her, right there on the sidewalk—but whatever he was going to say or do was interrupted by a flower inserting itself between their faces.

Moonyoung took a step back to stop her eyes crossing as the flower bobbed in and out of focus. An old woman in an apron and neckerchief stood there with a basket of similar flowers, still holding the one out. "Mister, please buy a pretty flower for your pretty girlfriend. Oh, you're so pretty! Mister, do you like flowers?"

"What—" Kangtae started to say. Moonyoung frowned as everything on his face, so open just seconds ago, vanished behind a mask, face hardening. "We don't want flowers," he said in the end.

"I do," Moonyoung said, taking the flower, even though it was nothing special—white, trumpet-shaped, with thin petals. "How much is it?" she asked.

"Oh, you're so pretty, it's free for you," the old woman said, her smile just that little bit too sweet, voice just too high, to be genuine.

The light changed right after Moonyoung took the flower, and the old woman walked away, mutterin about pretty flowers under her breath. Moonyoung turned around just as her high-pitched voice disappeared—but a car hid her, and when it passed, she was gone. She looked at Kangtae. "What was that?" she asked.

He looked at the flower, then at her—and then, almost as though he had never been tense, his brows relaxed, his lips pulling up into a smile as fake as hers on a camera. "Let's go?" he asked. Moonyoung watched, fascinated, as the man pretended he hadn't been tense at all. Was it self-control? What about the woman had angered him, anyway? She hummed and turned to face the front, picking at the thin petals.

Who was Moon Kangtae?

They got to the restaurant and found it had overbooked, and Moonyoung would ordinarily complain, but she had something to say that she would rather not be interrupted by waiters and servers.

"Your CEO called me," Kangtae said though, before she could bring it up.

Moonyoung felt her lips pulling up. One wrong word and she was perfectly ready to eviscerate Sangin. "What did he say?" she asked.

"He said that you like pretty things. That you wanted to eat me alive, so I should stay away from you."

She let out a little laugh. Trust Sangin to try to ward someone away from her by warning him about her—hadn't he just been telling her about stranger danger as if he was her parent last night? Or maybe he just thought they were both dangerous for each other. It wouldn't surprise her; Sangin was terribly boring about people. Practical, he called it. "So? Why are you still here?"

"I'm not scared of you."

Moonyoung smirked. "You should read my fairytales. They have lots of beautiful witches—you'll like them." Kangtae looked amused, but Moonyoung had something more to add. "And they have castles, just like your hotel."

He raised his head, taking a step closer, the mask drawing back down over his features. "What did you say?"

"Your hotel. It's just like a palace, isn't it? I saw it twice."

He swallowed, and there it was—that tension. He was almost searching her eyes. "When did you see it?"

She raised her head. "At night. I dreamt of you."

"What was in the dream?" he asked, voice low enough to be illegal. She moved closer still, until there was just a whisper between them.

"You," she said, raising the flower between them. "Me. My bed." She paused, watching as his eyes flicked down to her lips and back. She held the edge of a petal to her lower lip, barely stopping herself from sucking it in. He was barely breathing. "You protected me." She added at the end. "And... Hotel Blue Moon."

One moment passed. Two. For those moments, she thought he was going to say something. Explain—somehow. But then the shutters were back, and the tension bled from Kangtae's head to sit in his shoulders and back. She had never though he was the looming sort, but apparently he was. "Forget about that dream, Ko Moonyoung," he said, strained voice at odds with the smile on his face. "And forget about that hotel."

And he turned around and began to walk away.

[embrassemoi]

(1/8) *inhales* *starts screaming like a howler* IT'S HAPPENING OH MY GOD IT'S HAPPENING! Honestly, you have no idea after how many times I checked tumblr after your sbtmas update post. I don't even know where to begin. Probably I should start with moony, right! When he took her flying and asked her to let go of her hands, it kind of reminded me of *that* scene from titanic but with stars and actual flying (sorry jack dawson but remus lupin is and always will be superior). It was just so, so

*inhales too and starts screaming back* HOLY - IT'S HAPPENING! AHHHHHH! REMUSSSSS! AHHHHHHHH - KEEP CALM !!!!!

Ah! now that you mention it, it also reminds me of that 'I'm flying' from titanic!

(2/8) beautiful. I cannot even begin listing everything I loved about that scene or else I would have to copy and paste the entire thing here. "But now, watching her glow, it dawned on Remus that he was holding the golden beam that threatened to paint the midnight sky gold." I mean- I probably read this three times because *screaming* HE'S IN LOVE, YOUR HONOR!!! Also I love, love, love the sun, moon and stars being used to represent mc, remus and sirius. It's kind of interesting sun is actually

I WANT YOU TO KNOW I WAS 100% SCREAMING WHILE WRITING THAT ENTIRE SCENE LMFAO! I'm glad you liked it! It was definitely *so far* one of my favourite scenes to write

(3/8) a star so they are similar and belong together, but also the moon and sun are kind of opposites and opposites attract and complete each other. So both sirius and remus are good matches for her but have very diffrent dynamics... I don't know, I am probably overthinking again. But I just don't know who to ship her with at this point. And I don't think you are going to fast with their relationship, their relationship progressed so naturally and beautifully, especially since the beginning

Well when I was in the planning stages of figuring out what I wanted to really add in this fic, one of the first things that came to mind was taking advantage of the moon and star metaphors. it makes things so much more romantic / angsty and plus - they're there. what am I supposed to do - not use the absolute gold I have at my finger tips? (see what I did there)

and no! I always encourage predictions being made. some of my readers have been scarily accurate and it scares the fuck outta me but they're hilarious to read! Like I had one clever reader send in a prediction of what was going to happen and my jaw dropped. Spot on!

also for the MC and remus' relationship progressing - I had to cut out so m u c h because it really was too rushed. But don't worry, it'll be moved to other upcoming chapters!

(4/8) of the sixth year. Okay, I know this chapter was remus' time to shine but can we talk about sirius for a minute? The way he looked at with so much vulnerability in front of everyone. Couple of chapters ago he didn't even cast a spell at her during their duel and bowed in front of her. Considering how romantic feelings are foreign to him, it's crazy to see how much he grown to care for her in a short amount of time. I can't help but love their chemisty, even after everything that happend.

SIRIUS! darling... I feel awful. I can't wait to write his POV of how he's feeling sometime in the near future.

yeah, I was also trying to go for the intense guilt he feels about everything so :p I love torturing characters, don’t I?

(5/8) And there were so many little things in this chapter that made me so happy. McLaggen already started causing drama and I'm so here for it. Sybill celebrating her birthday. Matthew being the best friend ever (When gaplin family owl arrived, i though something happend to him and I was terrified). Lily finally talking to mc again! Regulus' extravagant gift! But being dramatic must be a Black family thing. I can't belive he got her a ring that practically screams "the noble and most ancient

McLaggen - stirring the pot. sly mother fucker haha!

Matthew made a little cameo! I love writing him :D!!!! I have a few things in store for his arch and ughhhh ahahahahah. and omg! no! If I was going to hurt Matthew, I wouldn't do It this early. (That sounds like a threat haha)

(6/8) house of black" while hiding their friendship. Somebody bound to connect the dots (sirius maybe?), right? And he's with his parents for "an event"? Very suspicious. P.S. Bc I'm not creative with names (like remus' parents) I was calling the bunny furry little problem the second or moony jr. in my head. And as for name... flopsy could be cute. I know it's very stereotypical but there was a children's book called "the tale of flopsy bunnies" and I feel like remus might have been familiar

Lmfao fucking Regulus - or really the black family - always one for the dramatic. I can't wait to *eventually* write more of dramatic ass Sirius.

I've also been referring to the bunny as 'furry little problem' in my head haha!

(7/8) with muggle children's books because of his mother and idk, naming a pet after a book character feels like something he would do. Also floppy and flops were some of the nicknames james used to call mc, so it could be cute (But owl bait is also a brilliant name as well). P.P.S. Can we talk about how after mc comes to his dorm for the "bunny time" (very cute btw) remus said something like "i feel like you're using me for my pet" and in one of the previous chapters mc told him he was using

- also I'm surprised you remember that part about James calling her 'Flops' ETC considering I only mentioned it briefly. Wow! And you're absolutely right, it would be such a cute call back to the MC!

I'm going to be running a 'poll' (idk if I should call it that) sometime within the next few days of a list of name suggestions I've gotten and let readers choose the name! and I'll totally add your suggestion to the list. love it!

(8/8) her for the casette player. I don't know if it was intentional but for some reason that made me laugh so hard. And seems like I talked way too much again thank you for this chapter and thank you for listening/reading my ramblings, I guess. *screaming stops* *howler rips itself into pieces* -🌸

It was intentional! I'm glad you caught on!

and thank you for rambling, as always I loved reading it! Made my week :D xx I wish you a wonderful day/evening 😊