#or at least he’s suuuuper into once you start dating him

[kuroosdarling]

(୨୧ᵕ̤ᴗᵕ̤) : you’ve been matched with … SEMI !

@twinkinspector

[parcoeurs]

Extremely fascinated by your wag AU tag 👀.

thanks bestie so am i.

okay lmao so this isn't an actual fic that'll ever be written but. i was talking to my friend about it who still hasn't finished dts season 3 unfortunately but it means that i've switched around ages and years etc. i promise this has the potential to be a fun and sexy time but there's just s o much background shit that needs to be discussed. tw for mentions of irl deaths etc:

but pierre & charles meeting when they're 5-6 (which is what i think charles actually says irl but someone said it might've been closer to when they were 10-11? regardless.) and charles' dad passes away when they're 9-10, and jules when they're 13-14 and charles quits racing then. (fyi i know that irl jules passed away first)

he thinks about quitting when his dad passes away but keeps going with help from jules. so when the accident etc happens, it's not even like an active decision he ponders. he just knows there's no way he'll race again.

and pierre's been with him throughout everything, his best friend who he can talk to when he can't bear looking at his own family. so he doesn't understand when pierre tells him he's going to keep racing. when charles had told him he was never going to get into a kart ever again, pierre had nodded, grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. important to note that they're barely teenagers rn so yes charles feels betrayed that pierre isn't feeling the same things he is and isn't choosing the same future for himself etc.

they have a huge fight, lots of crying, lots of dramatic teenage angst. but it ultimately ends with charles shutting pierre out of his life. which is easier said than done when it's your best friend whose family is super close with yours. but it works because pierre is off racing around the world and charles has done all he can to never have to think about that stuff.

so charles goes to school, is doing uni somewhere in europe. studies something generic like business or maybe if i'm feeling suuuuper indulgent i will have him major in environmental studies like moi <3 pointedly does not come to monaco during grand prix weekend or the week before or the week after.

and then anthoine passes away too. (they're 20-21 now)

they see each other again at the funeral but don't talk, they meet up afterwards. pierre breaking down in charles' arms, clutching at his back, telling him he was right. pierre should've quit, he can't do this anymore either. they haven't said a word to each other in 7 years but charles still knows pierre, and knows that this isn't actually what pierre wants. or what he should do. (charles vaguely knows pierre's in f1 but doesn't know he's with redbull, doesn't know redbull's the top team etc)

"you can still do this, you will," charles tells him.

"not without you again."

so then comes the challenge of mending their relationship while still working through the shared trauma, and the Layers of past trauma. and also just the general awkwardness that comes with a friendship breakup/makeup situation you know! they can't just act like nothing happened but would it be easier that way?

they start texting first, then they play fifa or cod together. (sometimes pierre's british friend lewis joins too.)

slowly slowly slowly, they become friends again and then inseparable too. maybe even closer than they were before and charles only now realizes how much he missed pierre. while pierre still can't believe he has charles back now, it's as good as he let himself imagine.

the part i'm unsure about is if i would want pierre's career trajectory to be the same or not. because i think the demotion adds SUCH a painful but interesting aspect to his ~storyline. but ultimately i think maybe he just doesn't get the second seat immediately. spends more years with toro rosso/alpha tauri before getting "called up" (sorry i have no idea what the proper terminology is haha ignore the nba/nhl terms).

he invites charles to his first race in the red bull and charles says no. immediately. pierre's quiet on the other side of the phone, internally thinking he messed this up somehow. he thought things were going well and he takes this as charles doesn't want to see him. but he knows there's a lot more that's stopping charles and he also knows charles will definitely pull back if pierre asks about the other stuff. so he moves right along, asking charles about school, the weather, and tries not to let it show in his voice that he misses his best friend and needs him too.

"i'm going to try to watch," charles says, after pierre's yawned goodnight through the phone and is waiting for him to hang up. because you know pierre's not going to hang up first.

"what?"

"the race. i'm going to try. goodnight!" mentally charles slams the phone shut but really he just smashes at the red button before shoving it under his bed and looking at his hands trying to get answers for what he just did.

his only relief is that he didn't promise pierre he would watch, just that he would try. couldn't even choke out a, "good luck." (insert long paragraph about charles letting pierre down or thinking he has).

he only watches qualifying. pierre p3. already knows on saturday that there's no way he can watch the actual race.

but on sunday when he's supposed to be going over his notes for his climate change science & policy course (yes.... i did it...) he finds himself with his heart in his mouth refreshing formula1 dot com. watches the random names move up and down while keeping his eyes on 10 - gasly. (starts shaking for a second when he sees pierre's name drop until the IN PIT sign comes up across his name. fellas the thing about triggers is-- anyways.)

the scariest part is that by the time he's scrolled through all of red bull's socials to look at pictures of pierre on the podium (he finished p2 sorry i know this truly does not matter), he's forgotten about the race. the anxiety sits small in the back of his throat, his happiness for pierre is bright and loud in front of him. charles sends him a message, asking him to call whenever he can and adds a blue & red heart emoji which feels like a Big Step. but basically pierre calls and acts like nothing has happened since the last time they talked. mentions the breakfast he had in detail as if he didn’t get a podium in his first race with red bull. finally with a big team. but charles embarrassingly realizes that maybe his text didn't exactly imply in literally any way whatsoever that he knows the results of the race and was trying to congratulate pierre with this call. charles probably feels so embarrassed at this point but somehow still can't manage to say anything about the race until the next day maybe.

maybe texts pierre, good job. or, you were great. or something about him and not the race. or maybe reposts a picture from red bull but not one of pierre in his car, pointedly. only one of him on the podium. and pierre probably reposts it with the squid emoji and/or my favourite sentence in the world, merci petit calamaro.

charles cries when he reads it.

not to be lazy now but [insert 10k words of them building their friendship. meeting up in monaco with both of their families. meeting in milan or london or paris idk where pierre would live. but he flies charles out. not on a private jet because charles flat out refused lol. not because he's an environmentally conscious king he's just too, embarrassed? overwhelmed? by pierre doing Things Like That for him. even though he wants it lol. like when he graduates he's soooo annoyed that pierre couldn't come celebrate immediately because it was race week. but when he comes home his apartment is filled with flowers (roses, his favourite) and balloons and a giant teddy bear as tall as charles. and he DOES post 12 instagram stories to go with the other 30 from his other friends congratulating him. so yeah charles goes through a lot of personal growth and therapy. to the point where he's watching pierre race again, and waiting for him to invite him to a race again!!! do not even think about actual dates i'm fucking begging you but the one he goes to is monza :))))]

ultimately charles' path to understand/accepting/moving on from, his trauma, happens once he has pierre back in his life. it's also encouraged by pierre, but it's also not entirely because of him. not sure how to word that but yeah. these things are happening at the same time but charles still has to go through them by himself.

pierre takes him on romantic dates all around the world and charles doesn't realize that's what they are. fully in his bestie vibes only mood while pining for pierre in a way he doesn't even quite understand. almost a self deprecating, jeez whoever gets to date pierre is going to be so lucky :/

fanpage on ig: met pierre's alleged bf he's so pretty and sweet, i complimented his shoes and he was so nice. charles reading that: i didnt know he was dating someone :( why wouldn't he tell me :( well at least someone complimented my shoes today :(

pierre doesn't necessarily think they're dating, but he does know charles doesn't quite realize what they're doing so he's just waiting for him to come to terms with it.

not to give this au 10 different subplots but yeah that miscommunication plot becomes our prize for surviving through the first part of this.

but yeah at the last race of the year, that pierre wins because i said so? charles finds him before he goes on to the podium, kisses his helmet. says i love you, i'm so proud of you.

THEN, finally, charles does become pierre's wag. we made it kids. we did it joe.

[justkpopjokes]

Found You || OnlineRival!Felix

AU: online gamer friends + college + rivals to lovers

Anon: know it's a common au cliché but I've been craving some college au's of felix, maybe enemies to lovers ?? but enemies in a playful, competitive sense of course. I'll leave this vague so that you have more creative freedom, idc if you write in para. style or bullet point, I'll eat up anything you write skskj

A/N: I HAVE RETURNED!! Hope you enjoy this anon~ still can’t believe you’ve been following me since 2017 oml

If anyone else has lowkey specific requests for skz I’ll take them!! It can be any type/medium(?) of writing lol I just don’t want to write elaborate plots rn

You’ve been playing this video game recently

(I’ve been playing Valorant lol so I’m basing this off of that)

you’ve been playing solo for a bit

One afternoon, you match with a nice team that’s doing well

it’s a good game; you’re pretty evenly matched

you end up the last player standing, win a round for your team, & they applaud you for it!

But then—ohoho and then—

—you hear the deepest freakin Australian accent on voice chat

saying “ayy nice!!”

you say a polite thank you back to him

meanwhile the other people on your team are like

“holy crap bro your voice is low af!”

you get to hear this boy speak for longer lol

His username is #1Aboji or BrownieBoi915 or smth idk so you call him Brownie

and y’all get to talking lol

you send him a friend request on a whim because he seems nice

he accepts, sends you a party invite, and you play a few games together!!

Over the course of a couple months, you play together every time you’re online at the same time

(which is often bc ur timezones happen to be the same hehe)

It’s funny because although you’re friendly with each other, you’re competitive af LMAO

most of your games are spent competing for who can get more kills and who can be MVP of the team/entire match

it’s friendly competition but competition nonetheless

eventually he asks for your Tumblr/Twitter/whatever so y’all can chat a bit more :D

his @ can still be @/BrownieBoi915 lol

Brownie’s fun and you share some interests!!

your music tastes are similar too, so he sends you song recommendations, then you yell about them

You’ve been chatting a lot and reply to each others’ posts/tweets often, especially when you’re just posting about weird sh!t happening in your life

But one day… you post about something that happened at your college

something like “icb this ajlsdhf there’s this girl in one of my classes and she just sCALED THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING SO SHE WOULDN’T BE LATE TO CLASS”

less than a minute later you get a text:

“AHJKFLDSA WAIT YOUR MOST RECENT TWEET—

DO YOU MEAN VANESSA??”

and then

wAIT THAT’S BROWNIE TEXTING

HE KNOWS VANESSA?!?!?

So, naturally, you text him back

Then Brownie gets you to agree to another silly competition:

see who could identify the other first on campus!!

the 1 rule is that you have to find each other in-person

(there is a 2nd rule that you can’t ask exactly where the other person is, but that’s pretty obvious lol)

But because of the main rule, occasionally you’ll get a vague text like

Brownie: “Hey are you wearing a red flannel right now”

You: “No I’m not even outside lmao”

Brownie: “Dammit I thought I felt the vibes”

It’s a nice lil challenge because the only thing you know about Brownie is that he identifies as a guy and has an Australian accent

(but that may be unimportant depending on where you live lmao)

meanwhile the only things he knows about you are random details, your voice, and that you have a class with Vanessa lol

And it’s FUN!!

but you both start to get suuuuper competitive

mostly because of the 1 rule

there have literally been times you’ve probably found Brownie when you hear an Australian accent in the distance

however he always leaves before you can get to him, so it doESN’T COUNT GDI

Brownie tho lmao—he’s always putting on his detective hat and trying to track you down on campus

whenever he’s chilling after class he asks for where you are generally

he’ll ask you “Hey wyd”

You: “Studying”

Brownie: “In the library?”

You: “…Yes”

then he starts to narrow down where you could be based on less-specific questions

Of course, that’s not the only thing you text him about

you’ve grown pretty close to Brownie

the competition has helped with that!!

and ofc you still play that game together lol

Honestly, you really want to meet him

he’s just super charming + considerate

Also he mentioned he likes baking

you suggested “we should bake together!!”

Brownie: “Gotta find me first ;)))”

so,,, yeah you daydream about baking with Brownie

you really want to know his name

I mean, c’mon, you’ve gotten his phone number at this point, but you still can’t find him??

it’s starting to get frustrating

to the point where he can hear the frustration through your texts

HIS NAME IS FELIX!!

YOU HAVE A NAME TO WORK OFF OF NOW!!!!

That small piece of information motivates you for the rest of the week

you give Felix your name in return, but he insists that neither of you should ask around for each other

(you can’t ask your friends if they know someone named Felix

but if you hear someone say “Felix” while you’re out and about, that works)

you’re still unable to find him for some time, but knowing Felix’s name makes you feel closer to him

You can’t video call Felix but you normally call him at least once a week

after knowing him for at least half a year, you get this warm feeling in your chest every time his name pops up on the top of your phone

One of your phone calls sounds something like this:

Felix: “Hey, y/n?”

You: “Yes?”

Felix: “Do you want to go out for lunch? I mean, once we find each other.”

You: “As in a date?”

Felix: “Yeah—I mean, if that’s okay!”

You: “Yes please!! So can you find me already istg 🙄”

Felix is itching to meet you too

…so he sends you a selfie

with a filter though! that way you don’t see his entire face

you send him 1 in return (also with a filter)

Felix immediately says “aww ur cute uwu”

and your heart m e l t s

you’d think, hey maybe that’ll help me find him

SPOILERS it doesn’t really help lmao

Your close friends really want to help lmao because they’ve been hearing about this “Brownie” boy you like

however, you & Felix are adamant of winning this competition because the person who wins doesn’t need to pay for your 1st lunch date lol

It’s the last Friday afternoon before you have a week-long holiday, when you’re hanging out in front of one of your friend’s classes to pick them up

you’re standing outside the building chatting with one of your other friends when your phone starts ringing in your pocket

other friend is like “ooOOOH is it brownie boy??”

You: “Oh yeah rip he’s probably calling because I missed some of his texts, give me a moment."

You’re about to pick up when the call drops

so you’re like ?? bruh what and are about to unlock your phone to see what Felix’s texts are about

That’s when you feel a tap on your shoulder

and a low Australian voice behind you says your name

your head whips around to find this cute face with freckles and a giant smile on his face

“Felix?!?”

“Heh, I found you~”

Dude doesn’t hesitate to hug you, pick you up, then spin you around

your friend is watching with a goofy smile but he doesn’t care

after he finally puts you down, you cup his face with both your hands

“The filters always hide your freckles… they’re like stars, Lix”

instead of a lunch date, Felix takes you out for dinner :DD

even though you lost he insists on paying :’))

your friends don’t even care that you’re ditching them ajlkfdhs they literally push you away to go eat with Felix lmao

and you return home with that warm feeling in ur heart still there

needless to say, he will arrange another date so he can bring you some homemade brownies

he is the brownie boy after all!!

[fatalism-and-villainy]

☕️ talk to me about your svsss thoughts?

Oh man, SVSSS. I will say it’s probably my least favourite of the MXTX canon, but it is extremely fun. Honestly, the aspect of it that had the biggest impact on me was all the parodic commentary on webnovel fandom and its forum dramas. Like that first Airplane chapter with the long comment thread on PIDW just had me cackling from the accuracy of it (especially the whole “if you don’t like it then WHY DON’T YOU WRITE YOUR OWN, let’s see if you could do it better” “I don’t need to be able to do it to know it sucks” exchange, like wow, you broke every argument in the comments down to its bare essentials). All the snarky (self-)deprecating commentary in the narration on tropes and genre expectations and the constructed nature of fiction were delightful. (Have I ever mentioned that I have a deep and abiding affection for MXTX as a personality? Because I really do.) 

I also love the fact that so much of it is a commentary on certain fandom attitudes - like Shen Yuan is very much the kind of entitled fan who harasses creators (the fact that Shang Qinghua has nightmares about Shen Yuan yelling at him about his writing is funny, but also uhhh... telling), but there’s also a lot of pushback against simplistic moral impulses on the part of fandom. The subplot about Shen Jiu’s backstory (which Shang Qinghua omitted because readers wanted him to be a straightforward villain) is VERY much a statement about how circumstances influence behaviour (and fandom’s reluctance to contend with that, imo). Same with how Shen Qingqiu’s perception of Luo Binghe is handled - he’s so fixated on the future of Luo Binghe’s character arc (although for understandable self-preservation reasons) that he doesn’t realize how much he’s altered Luo Binghe’s character by treating him better, and that character isn’t deterministic and set in stone. As I’ve mentioned, I love the fact that the effect of his presence on Luo Binghe is very much in the usual MXTX vein of “the presence of absence of attention and care make a drastic difference in someone’s character,” except in this case there’s an added layer of “and sometimes it will cause their gay awakening.”

Also, the whole setup in which this extremely straight hypermasculine genre would be better and deeper if it were gay? MASSIVE POWER MOVE. Especially with the presence of that girl in the aforementioned PIDW forum shyly being like “uhm I wrote some SQQ/LBH slash if anyone wants to read?” This book is truly a vindication for slash fangirls and villain lovers everywhere. 

I also loved both the leads. Shen Qingqiu is delightful as a nerdy, extremely online personality who unwittingly ends up as a curmudgeonly but beloved mentor to a bunch of teenagers. The way the disciples at Qing Jing Peak grow attached to him with him barely being aware of it was one of my favourite parts and I really wish there had been more focus on it! The scene with both Ning Yingying AND Ming Fan crying after he’s come back to life is extremely sweet. Luo Binghe is also very very good... putting on a tough and cool persona when he’s actually a massive emotional mess who’s desperate for affection and validation. (He’s SO eager to please during his disciple days. “Do you like my cooking? Do you? Do you??? Please let me do this for you every day pls pls pls.”) And he gets jerked around so much! You have to feel for him!  

That said, while I do love the two main characters, the central romance doesn’t really land for me. I really do like Luo Binghe’s adolescent crush on Shen Qingqiu, and him having his gay awakening through the first authority figure to ever be nice to him. And I also like the “omg so cool!!” response to Luo Binghe-the-character that Shen Yuan has that could totally be sublimated gay feelings (@coldwind-shiningstars raised the possibility that he had a crush on Luo Binghe while he was reading the book, which I could see). But the way they actually come together in-story.... there’s a lot of Shen Qingqiu capitulating to what Luo Binghe wants and appeasing him (including in the novel’s climax!) without much regard for what he himself wants and is comfortable with, and it’s uncomfy for me. You can convince him that he has worth and that you’re not going to abandon him while also setting boundaries with him, you know? 

And Shen Qingqiu’s internalized homophobia runs so deep that after awhile his freak-out responses stop being funny and just start being sad. Wei Wuxian’s closetedness in MDZS is at least expressed through him taking genuine joy in plausible deniability flirting with Lan Wangji. Shen Qingqiu on the other hand is just grossed out by Luo Binghe’s feelings for him so much of the time. The extras suggest that he is genuinely attracted to and attached to him, but is just suuuuper repressed, but that being the case, I just come away feeling as if he’s not remotely ready for a relationship at all until he’s worked himself out more. And I kind of want Luo Binghe to just try dating other people.... given the amount of women who were swooning over him, there’s got to be a bunch of potential boyfriends in this world for him as well. He could even have more than one at once (like, he was the protagonist of a harem novel! why’s he gotta become monogamous just because he’s gay now? XD)

So yeah, I loved the main characters but didn’t love the love story. And the setting and plot felt pretty empty for me - I had trouble getting attached to any of the characters or potential side pairings. The one exception to this is Shang Qinghua/Mobei-jun, which is delightful for its “scary demon falls for the first person to ever tell him off” feature, but wasn’t integrated into the story well enough for me to feel strong emotions about it - it’s relegated to extras, and that it feels at a thematic remove from the rest of the story. That is to say, obviously Shang Qinghua being gay and not being able to express that in his writing choices is thematically central to the story (which makes the relegated-to-extras backstory for him unfortunate), but the specifics of his relationship to Mobei-jun don’t feel to me to parallel or offer commentary on the central relationship. Though it’s entirely possible that I’ve missed something there and just haven’t read the right meta yet. 

So, overall - it has a lot of individual aspects that I really like, it’s very funny in a lot of places, and I really appreciate what it’s doing thematically and with its meta aspects, but as a whole, it’s not entirely satisfying to me. 

[lycorogue]

Some Passing Thoughts on the New Miraculous Episodes

Finally got around to watching the fansubs of the Shanghai special and “Truth” (I’m still waiting for the other episodes to come out before watching Furious Fu).

Miraculous World: Shanghai – The Legend of Ladydragon

I have to say, I might change my mind later if the Prodigious proves to be more crucial to the overall lore of the series, but right now? Yeah. This special is a major skip for me. 

I did not connect with Fei the way I fell in love with Jess and Aeon. I am so pissed at the set-up the writers came up with to GET Marinette to Shanghai; her reasoning is the most selfish thing we have ever seen her do and it is such an injustice to her character. Plus, it is like neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir learned anything from the New York trip as they both show up in Shanghai kind of spur of the moment (i.e. didn’t tell the other they were leaving Paris). In fact, Marinette - again, going back to my hatred for the setup to get her to China - didn’t even CONSIDER the fact that Paris would be left unprotected; that Ladybug would be MIA. Granted, it was stated that Hawk Moth was surprisingly inactive, but shouldn’t that put her on hyper-alert; waiting for the other shoe to drop and Hawky to release something big that he was building up to? Instead she just lowers her guard and doesn’t even consider her superhero duties when planning on following Adrien. 

Another annoying thing is that the writers didn’t seem to learn anything from backlash against the episode “Kung Fu.” They just once again have Adrien be the one offering to teach Marinette Mandarin; not her mother (whose Chinese name Marinette never even knew), nor her great-uncle. Another writers flub was in the battle against Roi Argent. Ladybug questions Mei Shi’s suggestion that revenge does not equal justice (if that was translated properly), and... I’m pretty sure Marinette already showcased in previous episodes such as “Silencer” that she very much knows that revenge doesn’t equal justice??? She’s the one who corrected Chat Noir that Silencer coercing Bob Roth to admit he stole from Kitty Section and Marinette isn’t justice; it’s revenge. So???? HUH? NOW she magically feels like Fei’s revenge on Cash is justice for what he did to her? 

If all of that wasn’t bad enough, the pacing of this special was in complete overdrive as well. You didn’t have any of those emotional moments - both heart breaking and fluff-bombs - that you had in the NY special. The focus was largely on Fei, and I didn’t even really like her. She didn’t have the heart and the fully-fleshed characterization that Jess or Aeon had.

I’m also confused about Gabriel spending the past 15 years planning this whole thing. HOW!? WHY!? This is before Adrien was even born, or VEEERY shortly after if we skipped over his 15th birthday in the series. This was LOOOOOOONG before Emilie’s illness, which is presumably why Gabriel started using the butterfly miraculous in the first place (as showcased by Gabe in Origins asking Nooroo to remind him how the powers even work before using them for the first time in a corrupted state on Adrien’s first day of public school). So, if getting the Great Power of the Prodigious was something he was planning on doing literally all of Adrien’s life, why present it as “I found something that can finally give me an edge against Ladybug and Chat Noir”? I mean, what was his original endgame going to be? He couldn’t have possibly known that he’d be in dire need for the cat and ladybug jewels but struggled to take them from two teenage superheroes. It’s like the writers are trying to set him up as some mastermind akin to David Xanatos from Disney’s Gargoyles, but they are failing miserably. The whole Hawk Moth plot just doesn’t make sense to me.

Honestly? The only things that made this special worth it for me were: 1) Finding out a bit more about Sabine and her family (I love that she probably picked the name Sabine because it sounded like the pronunciation of her Chinese name) 2) Seeing Gorilla be his action figure nerd self a bit more (and the action figures of Uncanny Valley and Eagle) 3) Mei Shi in Renling (?) form, who was hella adorable! I need him as a plushie STAT 4) Adrien being the precious bean that he is. Just every moment he’s on screen was adorable (complete with him STILL having the picture of Marinette that was sent to him in “Evillustrator” saved to his baton and using that to try to find her) 5) Seeing the world through the eyes of a kwami for the first time and learning a touch more non-crucial lore 6) Mei Shi in statue form reminding me of the Dragon costume on The Masked Singer.

(I know, seeing them side-by-side now, they really aren’t that similar after all, but it’s been about a year since Dragon was on The Masked Singer, and he’s still what I kept thinking of as I watched Mei Shi on screen)

While I obsessively watched the New York special at least a dozen times, I’m really only seeing myself re-watch this special once more when it’s in English, and maybe whenever I do a full-series binge (which is super rare that I take the time for that).

Not impressed. Sorry.

Truth

“Truth”, on the other hand? Hhhhhnnnnnngggg. My heart! It breaks! Poor Marinette. Poor poor Luka. I mean, silver linings at the end there, but also BIG OOF. (Also, why wasn’t Adrien around at all whenever Truth made people confess that Marinette’s secret was her love for Adrien? xDDD)

I’m also a bit confused about the Adrien pictures. She had them taken down pretty much since “Troublemaker”, and yet her walls are once more papered with Adrien’s likeness now that Marinette is trying to get over him and date Luka? How does THAT make any sense outside of the writers going “we need an awkward phone call between Marinette and Luka. Oh! I know! A picture of her Adrien-covered bedroom walls is accidentally sent to Luka!” >3> Also.... what is UP with Luka’s animation again!? The kid was so pale it’s like they forgot to add any color to his model in this episode. WHY CAN’T THEY JUST ANIMATE MY PRECIOUS SON LOOKING HANDSOME EVER!? FIRST NO EYELASHES, AND NOW NO SKIN TONE!? WHYYYYYYYYY!? Personally, I prefer “Silencer” to “Truth” both in overall story and in Luka’s akumatized form design. Also, side note, did anyone else notice that Ladybug was hit by Luka’s attack and couldn’t speak for most of the battle both times? And that she needed Chat Noir to help her set up her Lucky Charm both times? And that Luka’s drive both times was to get to the truth?

I did still enjoy this episode very much. It showcases the new stresses Marinette has to face (totally unfair; I agree. However, it’s a standard trope in most teenage superhero stories such as Teen Titans and Spider-Man, so I was expecting it). It showcases how hard it is for her to figure out a balance between life and superheroing (again, re: standard teen-superhero trope). The fans get confirmation on a fantheory that’s been circling pretty much since Luka was introduced (ESPECIALLY after the episode “Desperada”). The Ladynoir shippers are well fed, and it’s great to see LB and CN praise each other - including Ladybug’s love of Chat Noir’s humor. 

I hope this isn’t the end of us seeing Luka in the show (that would break my heart even more) and it feels lame to build up the Lukanette “love rival” arc only for it to die off before it really goes anywhere. There was so much story potential there where Marinette could grow to learn what it truly means to be in love, and not just idolize and romanticize someone you’re infatuated with. Instead, all she learned is that she is alone aside from Chat Noir, and I feel like that’s SUUUUPER railroading the Ladynoir ship. And, frankly, I’d much prefer to see the Ladynoir side grow naturally, as it has been, instead of forcing Marinette’s hand because Chat Noir is the only one she can be MOSTLY honest with (secret identities notwithstanding).

It’s been a long hiatus. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to dodge fandom salt, but still get a larger dose than I intended to have in my fandom diet, so maybe my views are a bit tainted from that. However, this special and season premiere feel a bit like the writers are stumbling. I don’t know if the pandemic somehow affected their writing flow, or if they feel pressured by the fans to tell the series’ story a certain way and are scrambling to do so, or if they are rushing to an ending instead of taking their time and letting it naturally unfold as they had with the first few seasons. But, regardless of their reason, I hope they re-find themselves; the ones who told great stories in seasons 1 and 2 and (poor writing for Marinette notwithstanding) really good stories in season 3. I hope they can step up their game for the remainder of season 4. 

It’s been a long break, and we all deserve something good to feed us. We don’t need another GoT or HIMYM final season. Especially when this isn’t even supposed to BE the final season of the series.

Guess it’s time to wait for “Lies” to come out, and hope for the best.

[xnchxntmxnt]

Hey this is for your matchups which again yayyy congrats on nearly 200!! Anyways for my matchup:

1-3) My nickname is Em, she/her and idm who you pair me with

4) I'd describe myself as shy at first then once you get to know me I'll open up, an overthinker and I like to be organized

My hobbies are writing, I really love it alot, I also like to draw if I get time and I love music alot too

In a partner I'd look for someone who makes me laugh and who's patient

For dealbreakers it's pretty general but I couldn't be with someone who doesn't consider other ppl's feelings

5) I don't have an aesthetic but I like pastel aesthetics but then I also like dark aesthetics and light academia so it's a mix I guess

6) Colours to describe me would be teal blue and silver, well according to you anyways

7) Right now I'd say my favourite song is  Tru Luv Street by Awfultune or Fight Night Champion by Cyberbully Mom Club

8) Idk about a specific genre but some artists I like rn are: Awfultune, Carpetgarden, Cavetown, Clem Turner, Cyberbully Mom Club, Girl in Red, Joji, Lorde, Matt Maltese and Twenty One Pilots (sorry that's alot)

9) Ooh and I wanted to include that my favourite book is Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Thank you in advance and also ily, you deserve all the love and more!! <3

EM MY BELOVED I HAVE DONE IT

@sugasfanfics this was so fun wtf like-- ugh i love this

ANYWAY i know i already kinda spilled the beans but im gonna match you with....

✧𝐴𝑘𝑎𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖 𝐾𝑒𝑖𝑗𝑖✧

AGASHIII

and no it's not just because you're already in love w him i have good reasoning behind this because i said so anyWAY

✧𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑀𝑒𝑡✧

how you met, for in case you cant see my fancy text

Cafe

C a f e

But like

A cafe specifically for nerds

This is just my like 2nd dream job okay but like hear me out

They have coffee & tea & a bookshelf full of old books and a chalkboard

You can write all over the chalkboard

You write super tiny and just let a little mini vent out in the corner because you’re stressed out and need to get everything off your chest

BUT you come back the next day and there’s a little note in the same little corner

Your message is gone

But instead is a little note from someone

“If you ever need to talk to someone, let me know”

And an Instagram username

So you give it a shot and you’re like why not talk to this random person Y’know maybe make a new friend if anything just thank them for the offer

You message him and start talking (and low key stalk his page just to see what he’s like, or maybe that’s just me being a snoop) and he’s actually really cool! So you guys meet up and get coffee and actually start talking all the time it’s really sweet

✧𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠✧

general headcanons

When i think of akaashi, I think of stars

When i think of you, i think of picnics and for some reason, water

Like the ocean

SO EVEN IF ITS NOT THE OCEAN

Your ‘spot’ is by this lake where he took you on a date one time

Maybe for an anniversary or something

But you guys did a little picnic dinner thing and were out when the sun went down so sat and stared at the stars

You buried a rock there and both of you like to stand on that spot where the rock is when youre there with the other

Or send the other a picture like “hiii baby look what i found” w your shoe in the picture

Bokuto is your #1 shipper high key

Like he thinks you two are so cute

He loves you so much too like

He and akaashi are kinda a package deal so like if ur dating akaashi ur dating bokuto just with less kissing (bokuto likes to kiss your cheek or forehead) (after making sure this was ok with akaashi of course) (ur his girlfriend of course)

But anyway just bokuto

He’s so sweet

And so clueless

You two will be walking together and then he’ll just walk up behind you and sling his arms over your shoulders

If youre holding hands w akaashi? He’ll put his hand over both of yours

God now i wanna write a fic but anyway

Bo is just the sweetest and is akaashi’s #1 hype man when he’s worried about a date

He’s ur #2 bc im ur #1 sorry to tell u

Bo totally tried to coin the platonic soulmates thing i love you kou but gtfo my em

Im arguing with fictional characters

ANYWAY

When akaashi is stressed he likes to wrap his arms around you and lay his head against your neck

He’ll never admit it out loud because he thinks its weird but he thinks you smell nice

When he’s starting to overthink too much + spiral he just will grab you and hug you until all the bad thoughts go away

When he thinks to of course

When he doesn’t, there are times you gotta find him and calm him down

Which he loves so much

Sit him down on the floor so he feels more grounded and hold his hand (or hook pinkies that's so cute i jhbflebf) (not the time spencer gtfo)

That way ur not crowding him but you’re still there y'know

And sometimes he’ll talk, sometimes you need to talk him down, sometimes you just sit in silence

Eventually he will lean forward into you and hug you because he doesn't want to talk, but he wants you to know he’s okay

Rub his back, kiss his head, you’ll both be okay

He’s really good with you too

When you’re stressed out he might push a couple buttons but he means well

He just wants to know who made his star upset (he calls you his star or darling convince me otherwise)

So he pushes buttons until you finally talk about it because obviously it’s bothering you why wouldn't you talk about it?? He just wants to fix it??

Sometimes this gets more irritating, sometimes it helps, it depends on the day

But even if you do get into an argument, expect to hear from him before the end of the night apologizing because he feels so bad for arguing with you that he doesn’t even care what the argument was about he just wants to make sure you still love him

I think im getting off topic but tbh this part is always just me rambling lol

Another thing I think of when I think of akaashi is rain. I don't know why but i do

You have to at least know OF the notebook & the rain scene to get this

I don't know the book lol i just know this much and i'm a dork so we’re using it & some quotes just a heads up

But just imagine its pouring and you’re bored and text him like “i wish i could see you but its raining & we didn't really make plans & i don't want you to get caught in the rain anywhere”

This mfer

RUNS ALL THE WAY TO UR HOUSE

JUST SHOWS UP

OUT OF NO WHERE

And being the freakin

book nerd he is

He texts you and goes “I wrote you 365 letters.”

And then just “(come to the door and I’ll finish the quote)”

So you bolt to the front door

And there he is

Soaking wet & smiling like an idiot

“I wrote to you everyday for a year.”

To which you start laughing and barley are able to make out a “it wasn’t over’ (which is the beginning of the next quote) before kissing him

And this jerk pulls you out in the rain with him because WHAT is more romantic than kissing in the rain

Nothing

Anyway he ends up with a cold but you give him some of the clothes you probably stole from him to get into dry clothes and you cuddle under the covers with tea

After you smack him (playfully of course) because “you IDIOT keiji it's pouring out here!!” “I wanted to see you too so i ran over” “you're impossible”

Anyway yeah #emkaashiotp

✧𝐴 𝐷𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝐼𝑑𝑒𝑎✧

a date idea

Bookstore

I'm really good at naming places aren't i

Anyway

Bookstore date

But do something fun where the two of you have to go through an aisle and find a random page and read it in the like

How do i explain this

Make it sound suuuuper sexual without it actually being that way and not laugh

Whoever loses buys lunch

Lets just say you lose a lot dear im sorry (he insists on buying anyway, sometimes he wins that argument)

You’re smiley :) (guys her smile is so cute ebflbejfb em ILY)

Oh also doesn’t matter if he bought lunch or not he always gets you something

Whether it be that book you decided you couldn't get this time or a little trinket that reminded him of you, or sometimes it’s just ice cream

It’s all very sweet (hahaha pun)

He always walks you home and gives you a little kiss when he drops you off

Doesn’t leave till you’re inside & he knows you’re good

You make him promise to text you when he gets home

Which he does, without fail

✧𝑍𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑐 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦✧

zodiac compatibility

Sagittariuses are very intelligent, fair-minded & honest, similar to a Libra’s cleverness & rationale. Because of this similarity, trust is a huge thing in these relationships. It can be all or nothing, but finding balance is important to keep both people happy. Luckily, Libras are very good at this. From everything I’ve seen, these signs together have a very high compatibility and can have a very long-withstanding and healthy relationship.

✧𝐴𝑒𝑠𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐✧

aesthetic

✧𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡✧

playlist

House of Gold - Twenty-One Pilots

Lvr Boy - awfultune

A Shitty Love Song - Jye

Darling Get Up - awfultune

Something Just Like This - Alex Goot

✧𝑅𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑈𝑝✧

runners up

Nishinoya Yuu, Sugawara Koushi

[what-a-messsss]

2x3 rewatch

I keep forgetting that Brach is still in S2.  Oops.  Also, I apparently went to check something in S6 last time I watched something, so it started at 6x2 instead of 2x3 and I yelled.  But anyway, on with this mess.  “Death Came in Like Thunder” apparently.  It sure did.

Ah yes, let us not forget that Branch is MANLEH.  This shall be proven to us by him murdering his cousin, Trunk, with big ax.  Chop chop, Branch, kill Trunk.  But oh no, must also show that he is People Smart, so must also lose because this makes him likable.  And many white people clap.  Yaaaay.  But be sure to say, “I let him win, Ferg,” while your competitor is right next to you, so he almost surely heard you.  Good good.

Oh Ferg.  Could you look more gormless if you tried?  (I mean, probably not, since presumably that was the goal of the actor, so he would have been trying.  But still.)  Bb.

Heh, nice thematic cut to Walt also chopping wood.  And YAY, Henry’s gorgeous truck (and gorgeous self).  I’m just going to take a moment to appreciate the fact that Henry rolls up and just helps himself to some of Walt’s thermos of coffee.  Because of course he does.  But I do so love these touches that they put in that do underline the fact that they are married have been besties for going on 40 years.  Also, I love this jacket of Henry’s.  The woven top, jean jacket sort of one?  Yeah, top 5 costume pieces of his for me.  (Also on that list, all basically tied with each other, basically any pants he wears.  I am reminded, when they cut back out to a full body shot.  Because I am very shallow, and he is very pretty.)

Haaaaaa.  And of course Cady talked to Henry before she talked to Walt.  Walt is a butthead.  And, yeah yeah, she just found out that he’d been lying to her for over a year, but that just proves my point that Walt is a butthead.  And we’re back to this whole idea that she left her phone, which just... ugh.  No.  But Henry’s face when he says that she said that she is safe, and he’s so worried, but still willing to respect her boundaries.

“She is an adult, Walt.”  “She’s my daughter.”  For fuck’s sake, you jackass, your ADULT daughter; that’s the whole flipping point!  Also, that little emphasis on my daughter, pfft.  If you didn’t want to feel like she preferred her cool dad to you, maybe try being less of an AAAAAAASSHOLE.  And, like, respecting her.  Even a weensy little bit.

“Etta Place”  I don’t remember if we find out why that’s the ‘assumed name’ that Cady chose, but I’m intrigued.  Wait, I just googled.  Looooool.  She spent years with Butch and Sundance.  Nice.

Walt is such a soft touch with teens.  *snack crackle pop* that kneecap back into place.  Vic starts this scene saying, “The 911 operator,” though, which is interesting, because I was kind of under the impression that Ruby was the main dispatcher, so it would be kind of heartening if she actually had back up with that.  ...Or maybe they’re just far enough out that a cell call made would be picked up by a tower farther out and have to be routed back in to the station/them.  I have no idea how that actually works.  Another rabbit hole for me to totally not go down.  Hopefully.  Shit.  They’ve apparently upped the fine for trespass since the show, though, because it’s $750 (or 6 months in jail) now and Walt says it’s $500.

And once again, we see Vic actually wearing gloves while investigating a suspicious death, and Walt just squinting into the distance helpfully.  I suppose “things got bad” in Basque country around WWII, but there has been friction there that dates back before the Spanish Civil War, or even the Carlist Wars the previous century.  It did get gnarly with the dictatorship of Franco, and the formation of the ETA in retaliation, though, so yeah.  (Francisco Franco is also on the list of people who anybody with a time machine should go back and beat the shit out of.)

Shit, I forgot about the animal death.

Knock knock, no answer.  Better just wander in without a warrant.  I know that the guy who they know lives there is dead, but still, no fricking warrant; I suppose the worry of a poisoning could count as probably cause?  

Gods, but there are moments when I do absolutely adore Vic, and they are usually when she’s taking the piss out of Walt.  “Reclusive bachelor chic; you and Marco have the same decorator.”  Looool.  But also, sad, because Martha has only been gone for a little over a year, and Walt is not the kind of person who would, like, change stuff and get rid of her things, so that’s kind of odd.  Maybe Henry and/or Cady went though and put away some of her things to try to help Walt move on?  But damn, the ‘excuse you’ look on Walt’s face when she does say it, pffft.

AND AGAIN, Vic wearing gloves, Walt with his bare ass hands picking up the picture of Picasso’s Guernica; can you at least *pretend* you’re a cop, *some* of the time, buddy?

Lol at the barrabilak; they are pretty well by the Rocky Mountains, so it’s probably not all that surprising that Walt’s had some “Rocky Mountain oysters” before.

I had forgotten that Vic had four brothers.  But her comment about Sal going off to look after the sheep and how if someone had told her that one of her brothers were dead she “wouldn’t care about any damn sheep,” I don’t know.  It kind of annoys me.  It’s totally in character for her, which is good, but I think it’s part of what can annoy me about her character.  Different people grieve differently, but also, I know she’s only been in Wyoming for a year or two, tops, but how is it so hard to fathom that someone one would be concerned about their livelihood, even in the face of personal tragedy?  Just, seeing beyond her own very narrow experience doesn’t seem like something she’s very good at.  It would be one thing if she’d framed it as “this is suspicious, and here’s why I think so as a cop,” but it was, “I wouldn’t react that way personally, so it’s sus.”  

Sure, be suspicious because there’s a suspicious death and family members are always suspects until ruled out, but approach it like a cop.  Or at least think about it from more angles than just your own, not terribly similar experience.  You’re a white city cop who can’t (or won’t) adjust to being in BF rural-ville, but these are immigrant shepherds whose family come from a homeland where the cops were just as likely to kill you as answer questions, and you’re side-eying a guy for going to make sure that their meal ticket doesn’t get obliterated?

I need to keep reminding myself that I really did want to like Vic.  I really did.  She just... they don’t make it easy for me.  Maybe she’s serving as an avatar for audience who don’t know about some of the culture stuff, and the audience get answers from her ignorance?  But honestly, I wish they’d picked a different way to handle that, if that’s what they were trying to do.  Her response to Henry being salty about Thanksgiving still really pisses me off.  Because it was shitty and racist, and... do we really need a character basically rolling their eyes and saying, “It was so long ago, why don’t you just get over it,” about something that is intrinsically tied to the genocide of so many people?  Why are Indigenous people just supposed to “get over it” but “Remember the Alamo” and “Southern Pride,” and shit?  Fuck’s sake.  Honestly, that might have been the moment when they lost me on her character.  She has moments where she’s awesome, but they never really address her being fucking racist or give her a chance to grow into a better person.  Which sucks a lot.  Fuck.  Ok, that was a lot.  Sorry.  Back to the actual ep.

AH, nice of you to beam in from the campaign trail, Brancheroo!

Uh, so I paused it to look at pic in the newspaper, and then being me, started to look at the articles surrounding the pic.  And the one with the headline “Fans Injured At Local Game” is actually about the Stewart case?  From 1x3?  I’m guessing that somebody went to the trouble of writing up an article for that for some S1 ep after it and they just plugged it in because when not paused, you might catch “Sheriff Longmire” there and that’s all they need.  Especially since the text starts to repeat after the first paragraph.  (I am the worst pedantic little shit.)  Ooooor, maybe even though it’s S2, it’s hardly been any time since 1x3?  The date on the newspaper is March 31, 2012, so there’s a timeline hint. 

Awwwwww, once Walt points out the bird, Ferg knows exactly what it is.  Occasional twitcher, are we, my lad?  “A red-tip meadowlark,” indeed.  Oh bb; Ferg’s face when he sees Walt looking at the pic of him with Branch in the paper.

“You go too fast, you miss the little things.”  Every once in a while, he actually sort of mentors Ferg.  I wish he did more of that, especially since we see later how capable Ferg can be.

Go suck an egg, Branch.  Why does she get all the “good” assignments?  Maybe because she was actually on the job when they found the body, not campaigning.

OPE.  Lizzie’s gift.  Yeah, I’d probably choke on that coffee if I were you, too, girl.  Better hope that there wasn’t perishable food stuffs in that gift, because that has been in there for a whiiiiiile, hasn’t it.  Wait, was Ferg in the office when Lizzie dropped off the gift?  Because his face said more than just “Did somebody give Vic a present?”  Suuuuper subtle with that whole pushing the drawer closed with your foot there, Vic.  Pfffft.

“Cyrano Caballero”  How daaaare that skeeve take Cyrano’s name in vain?!?!  (I have a thing about Cyrano de Bergerac.  It’s quite possibly my favourite play, and I adore the character, and have exactly 0 chill about it at all.  I find Brian Hooker’s translation of “The Ballade of the duel at the Hotel Bourgogne Between de Bergerac and a Boeotian” with “Then, as I end the refrian, thrust home,” vastly superior to any other translation that I’ve heard or read, though for the rest of it, I will grant that there are others to be preferred.  But that version of his Ballade is exquisite, and I will not be swayed.  Holy shit, FOCUS.  That is so very much not the point.)  It’s not even a throw away line in this ep, it’s just a random, very well chosen, if utterly appallingly insulting, company name.  It’s actually incredibly clever for what the business is, and if it didn’t make me so stomping mad, I would applaud whoever came up with it heartily.

Vic’s face listening to this jackass’ spiel is a thing of beauty.  “A good woman goes a long way of easing the obvious stresses of your daily life,” the jackass says, cutting his eyes at Vic when he says “obvious stresses,” and I caaaackle.

What is it about this guys’ horrible glasses that just makes him so much more hate-able?  I’m not entirely sure, but kudos to whatever costumer put those on him, because they are perfect.  In the ‘I want to punch him’ way of perfection.

And after all of that about Walt’s “lady friend,” Vic brings Lizzie’s present.  Womp womp.  That went super well.  Yuuuup, run while you can.

Poor Ferg.  Branch manipulates him, Vic ignores him, Walt shuts him down...  Poor guy just can’t get a break.

I actually kind of like this motel manager--the one who “doesn’t judge people” and is a stickler for warrants?  At least somebody in this county cares about warrants.  Also, those doors are actually really pretty.  Nice colour, and the carved scrollwork designs are nice.

What an odd shot: the one when they’re coming out of Walt’s office after talking to Skeevy McGrossFace and Rosa.  It’s a weird sort of shaky-cam stepping back, just preceding Branch walking, and then turns to follow him when he sit’s on his desk.  But it’s a really different style of shot than I can remember, so much so that it’s a bit jarring, especially after the series of nearly stationary close ups that we just had.  Weird. [18:42-18-50]

Cady!  I haven’t made much note of her costuming before this, but it seems notable that’s she’s only in monocromatics.  Especially next to Fales in muted tones, but still some colour, and surrounded by the colourful grafitti of the alley where her mother was stabbed.  Nice way of setting her apart from everything.

SHEEPIES!  Ooooo, that wagon is so cool.  Ah dang, the way that Sal corrects Walt’s pronunciation of his brother’s name is so gloriously passive aggressive.  Good for you, my dude.  Names are important, and people should have the respect to make the effort to get them right.

Aaaaaand Walt, the definition of Do, Don’t Tell, just shoves the guy to keep him from drinking the possibly dangerous water, rather than, like, using his words.  Walt’s gonna Walt.

Iiiiiiiii am a mess, truly.  It cuts to an architectural model and I start giggling like a 6th grader, because I know it’s going to be a Jacob scene.  He’s not even on screen yet, ffs.  HANDS.  I’m fine.  Totally fine.  (That’s totally a lie.  I just rewound to the beginning of the scene because I kept giggling too much to pay attention.  What the hell.)  First time we’ve seen one of the chips, which at this point must be a marketing mock-up, since nothing is built yet.  And he actually types, not just doing the hunt-and-peck thing that is sometimes easier on a tablet.

Looking at the weaving that is up on his wall (maybe a rug?) I’m hoping that the prop people actually did buy from Northern Cheyenne artisans.  They apparently did most of their filming in New Mexico, so I hope they made the effort to get the patterns right, and buy from the actual tribe they’re supposed to be portraying, I guess?  And now I’m distracted by the fact that the random hanging light behind Jacob is at a weird angle?  

Look, ever since I realized that the “Hey,” that Jacob does is apparently just A (thanks to it also happening in That Damned Xmas Movie) I am endlessly amused (and charmed) whenever Jacob does it.  I don’t know why it makes me so happy, but it does.  (This is legitimately embarrassing.  How much trouble I am having focusing.  Beyond my normal focus issues, which, as shown above, are already impressive.  Because thiiiiirst.)

“My boys at the lumber yard did just throw you a campaign rally.”  I love how Jacob is basically apparently not just his secret angel-investor, but also a sneaky campaign manager.  Did Branch just think shit like the rally just happened?  He’s not fricking Ferris Bueller; somebody organizes those.  And apparently it’s either Jacob himself, or someone who Jacob appointed to do so.

“I thought you were just a casino developer.”  You have noooo clue, Brancheroo.  “I prefer to remain a silent partner.  White people get nervous when Indians start taking back their land.”  Oooooope.  Especially interesting because there are previsions for the Tribal Council to purchase land to be Tribal land (Section 6 of Article IX of the Tribal Constitution), but this seems more along the lines of personal acquisition.  Though maybe not, because “on the board” doesn’t necessarily equate to being the owner.

The set up of Jacob’s office is so interesting.  Functionally for the show, it’s probably for better shooting angles, so that we can see more of Jacob behind the desk while Branch is sitting in front of it, but from an in-the-verse decorating standpoint, bit’s fascinating.  He has this focal wall with the gorgeous wall hanging, flanked by floor to ceiling window, but instead of having his desk centered on that wall and directly facing the bulk of the room, it’s at an almost 45 degree angle on a huge rug, and it’s so unexpected.  I kind of love it, and want to analyze it for days.  Also worth noting is that pride of place is given to the  Hotamétaneo’o headdress which is on a stand centered in front of the wall hanging.

How fucking tired must Jacob be.  He’s used to Walt... Walting, but then Branch comes in, who he is literally spending his own money to support in his bid for sheriff, and he pulls the same shit of assuming that he’s behind Bad Shit.  And then Branch frames it as “bad P.R,” so he’s there to “discuss it with [him] privately.”  And then basically threatens him with Walt.  I swear.  ...there is something a little amusing about Walt being used as the stick in the carrot and a stick method of negotiating.  He certainly is enough of a blunt object most of the time.

Oh fuck you so much, Branch.  Playing the “can’t give you details about an ongoing investigation” card as though you have some professional or moral leg to stand on after basically blackmailing Jacob with Walt’s vendetta is just such shit.  You don’t get to look down your nose at Jacob’s quid pro quo pragmatism when you were the one who came to him for financial backing.  You sanctimonious little shitheel.  If you didn’t want to deal with Jacob, you shouldn’t have taken his $100k.  He’s a business man, and you’re an investment, and not a quixotic one.

“He’s probably the only person to have died from [hemlock] since Socrates.”  And then Walt’s incredulous look and her, “Alright, I googled it,” were subtle comedic gold.

Ooooooo, that was a nice little shot.  Not quite foreshadowing, but showing Branch’s suspicions and sort of inviting the audience to share them.  Walt says his bit about the Army poisoning “Indian wells” to kill them off and get their land, and then we see Branch fiddling with the Four Arrows chip and narrow his eyes considering and slip the chip into his pocket, looking suspicious.  It’s a really neat little moment of visual storytelling, no lines, literally three seconds long, just sort of snuck in there, but super effective.  Really nicely done.

And again, Cady is in monochromatics.  And, shit, just gave Fales Henry’s name.  Aaaaaand right after, she realizes that the junkie was killed and realizes that it had to have been one of her dads (or so she thinks).

Sal’s monologue in the cell is a good emotional payoff that plays off of Vic’s comments towards the beginning of the episode.  I see the narrative worth of her making them, and how the structure of the episode benefits from it; but seeing those writing elements from the outside of the show doesn’t make me able to like her as a character who said them in-universe.  And then the threat Sal makes of vengeance on someone who killed one he loves also underscores the stuff with Cady’s investigation into her mother’s death very well.  As much as I gripe about the writing *cough S6 cough finale cough* there really is some damn good writing in this show, and I don’t show enough appreciation for it.

Huh, and now there’s a sort of inverse of that weird shot preceding Branch from earlier, but this one is much more effective and less off-putting.  This one [33:00] precedes Walt as he walks back into his office, still a medium close up, but it’s much steadier, and the way it is framed, it does quite a bit to convey his mindset, and he walks out of the shot and we see the three deputies following him in like baffled ducklings, making the shot serve another purpose, too.  Which honestly makes that earlier shaky follow shot of Branch even weirder, because this one was so much better.

And then Walt has his creepy little speech about how someone would want to watch the light go out of their eyes and not caring if you get caught.  I do appreciate that when he’s talking about the psychology of killing with poison he doesn’t just call it a “woman’s method” which media so often does.  It might have been the writers keeping who the killer was abstruse, but it was still more gender neutral.  Especially since according to The U. S. Department of Justice's report on Homicide Trends in the United States (1980 to 2008) of all poison killers in that time period, 60.5 percent were male and 39.5 percent female.  (Table 5 on page 10.)  So that long held idea that even Sherlock Holmes was written to have that poison is “of course” a woman’s weapon is pretty crap.

Awwww, the good old days when Walt paid attention to animals.  ...I am still bizarrely salty about the fact that he never named his horse.  What a good pupper!  

And then we have a classic example of Sneaky!Walt, which always takes people quite by surprise, because he’s usually as subtle as Miley Cyrus.

Also because when he does this, it tends to be pretty fucked up, in a Make Someone Think They’re About To Die way.  And then he does His Thing, where he just lays out all of his suppositions, with no proof, only the terror of her thinking that she’s been poisoned and you’re withholding medical intervention to get her to confess.  And is, irritatingly, correct about his theories.  But I’m pretty sure this qualifies as coercing a confession?  She thinks she’s fucking dying.  Even Vic looks at him like it’s fucked up, and her moral compass where he’s concerned is... skewed.

They way this reveal was played out, (”How’d they find her so fast?”  “Hard to say...”) is somewhat ambiguous as to whether it’s supposed to be that Branch went there to tell Jacob or not, but I kind of doubt it?  I kind of figure that the meeting that Jacob was having when Branch rambled in was already with Rosa signing the paperwork.  Jacob is smart.  So, HAH.  Little good your “can’t comment on an ongoing investigation” schtick did.

And then the news that someone in law enforcement has been asking after Henry.

“Lizzie was waiting for you here tonight.  You should talk to her, Walt.  She seems to think she is in a relationship with you.”  ....omgs.  The tone.  I mean, yes, the blisteringly glorious SASS, but how does one not read that as incredibly shippy?  Howwwww?

“You are an honest man, Walt.  I would like you to stay that way.”  Oh Henry.  When did you decide that you weren’t?  Was it when you hired Hector?  Or was there something before?  ...I feel like there were things before that.  Hello darkness my old friend.

“It is not your job to protect me.”  “It is my job...”  THOSE WERE THE DAYS.  Those were the fucking daaaaaays.  And the emotions on Henry’s face after Walt says, “That was my right,” as though Henry cheated him of something.  I am so deep in OT3 feels I cannot even see daylight here.  The feels of them having been an OT3 and then Walt pulling this shit, and Henry having to defend his own “right” to avenge Martha?  It wrecks me.  “A good woman was murdered.  A bad man is dead.  End of story.”  

[sambergscott]

a little drabble inspired by this message from @fourdrinkamy​ ant how big and alert mac’s eyes are!! i'm gonna go cry again

it’s crazy that waking up at 6.30am is considered a lie in for him now. with a newborn, who is half-santiago, long gone are the days he’d sleep in til noon. most days he’s up before it’s even light outside. his coffee intake has more than quadrupled, but it’s totally worth it to hang out with the baby they wanted for so long.

his bed is empty, which is a little unusual. amy likes to stay in bed with mac in the mornings and snuggle under the covers and finish last night’s crossword together (she gives him the clues and pretends he knows the answer, booping him on his lil nose before filling in the appropriate boxes) (it’s the cutest thing in the entire world).

he fumbles for the baby monitor on his nightstand, blindly turning it on. it crackles, then he hears amy’s laughter.

he’s always loved her laugh. the way her eyes crinkle in the corners, the way she tilts her head, the way she keeps a not-so-secret note in her phone of the funniest things he’s said (she started it when he was in florida) (it was rosa’s idea to help ease the pain of missing him) (whenever he catches her adding to it he falls in love even more and gets brainstorming on the next joke).

he still thinks about their undercover date as johnny and dora when she said him making her laugh was how she knew he was the one. he’s always been the class clown (or now, precinct clown) (terry literally hired him to be a clown at cagney and lacey’s 3rd birthday party) but ever since he met her outside that elevator, he’s really only cared about making one person laugh.

her.

thrilled that their son has inherited his comedic talents, and already missing his 2 favourite people, he hops out of bed and heads for the nursery, leaning against the door frame to take in the tableau.

amy is in the rocking chair her mom and dad gave them (it was the one they used for all their babies and as amy was their only daughter, they thought it was the perfect baby gift), mac swaddled in her arms. she has her phone out, showing him something, and mac’s big, alert eyes are staring right at it, a tiny baby smile tracing his lips.

“thought we had a no screen time before 9am rule?”

she glances up at him, her own smile widening. “i guess motherhood has turned me into a rebel”

“oh yeah, you’re a total rebel” he teases, thinking back to yesterday when they went to ikea for some finishing touches to the nursery and she made him walk all the way round to go back and get something they forgot, just so they weren’t walking against the direction of the arrows. “what’s so important that it’s got you breaking rules, santiago?”

“oh, nothing” she shrugs, acting cool. “just showing him some pictures”

he narrows his eyes suspiciously. call it detective intuition. “what pictures?”

“just some ones of you, doesn’t matter”

he pieces together the final piece of the puzzle (metaphorically, of course, because he always loses at least one piece and it drives amy crazy that they can never finish a 2,000 piece puzzle that they’ve spent days working on). “YOU’RE SHOWING HIM THE NOSE RING PHOTO!”

“what? no” she says way too quick and he can see through her lies like the perp he arrested last week that denied stabbing a guy, despite holding a knife and being covered in blood

“you swore you would never tell anyone!”

“and i’ve kept that promise all these years! i just got my phone out to take a picture of him making a cute face and then my phone said my storage was full, you know, because i’ve been taking so many pictures of him, and then i was going back and deleting stuff from my camera roll when i found it”

“i have never felt more betrayed. and by my own wife” he makes a noise of disgust

“i’m sorry, babe, but it’s just so funny. he loves it, look”

he walks over to them and watches as amy swipes right to a random picture of some binders and then left, back to the nose ring photo, mac’s face lighting up at the offending image

“you think laughing at daddy is cool, pal?” he points an accusing finger at mac who makes a gurgling happy sound (that’s not quite a laugh yet, but is the closest baby version to it and is his new favourite sound in the world) (even better than taylor’s bridge in last kiss and the way amy says his name whenever he’s done something sweet)

“only when he has long hair and a nose ring” amy responds on mac’s behalf

“hilarious” he deadpans, rolling his eyes. he cut his hair years ago and yet his wife will not let him live it down

“you tell him embarrassing stories about me!” she cries

“amy, all your embarrassing stories are that you got an a- on a test once or you solved a case in two weeks instead of one or your ponytail wasn’t quite as shiny as it usually is. it’s not nose ring level embarrassing”

“fine,” she concedes “i apologise, i won’t bring it up again. unless he wants a nose ring, in which case it is my duty as his mom to show him how dumb he’d look”

“fine,” he agrees, ignoring the hurtful comment. he actually looked super cool and he scored one whole date because of the nose ring until it got infected and he had to take it out and the girl was no longer interested. whatever. her loss. he ended up with his dream girl anyway

“want to hold him and make friends again while i go change into something not covered in baby spit-up?”

“always.” he carefully accepts the precious cargo, bouncing him gently in his arms. he kisses amy before she leaves the room, squashing mac in between them, and spends the next 20 minutes showing mac all his amy photos, the 9am rule be damned

(yeah, he’s a rebel too. he once had a freakin’ nose ring)

when amy returns in clean clothes and her natural curls that she hasn’t bothered taming since mac was born, she raises her eyebrows. “showing him embarrassing photos of me? low blow, peralta”

“i’m actually not, santiago,” he says snarkily, then murmurs “i couldn’t find any” under his breath

“then why have you still got a screen in front of him?” she rests one hand on her hip

“i’m showing him normal pictures of you. he needs to see how pretty his mom is, babe! it’s a rite of passage! like a bar mitzvah”

she gets this soft look on his face despite herself and he would pat himself on the back if he weren’t holding his son

“for the record,” he adds, “he thinks his mom is suuuuper pretty. the prettiest mom in the entire world”

“he told you that did he?” she laughs

“mm-hmm. we’re bros so he confided in me, he probably wouldn’t say it again while you’re around but he’s definitely thinking it”

“well thank you my little macaroni,” she coos and honest to god, the nickname (of his nickname) was only supposed to be a joke at first, but now it’s kind of stuck and their entire family are calling him macaroni

(charles loves it)

(the first time hitchcock and scully heard it, on the other hand, they thought someone had brought in a delicious bowl of macaroni and cheese and were highly disappointed that they were just talking about the baby again, storming back to their desks in a huff)

“i think you’re very handsome too, mr mac”

“i told you, ames. he’s liquid fire. liquid. fire.”

she laughs again and mac gurgles and he thinks that if he can spend his entire life doing that, making his 2 favourite people laugh, then they’re going to be ok

[astrologysvt]

Mingyu’s Ideal Type - Natal Chart Reading

For ideal types, I’m not going to be doing specific placements of their ideal partner. Instead, I’m gonna be listing personality traits I think would mesh well with them, as well as focus on their needs and the kind of person who could meet them. what this reading cannot account for is the compromising the members would do on their end for their s/o. so just keep in mind this is only half of the whole picture!

lmfao having mingyu towards the end of this reading cycle is wild. 

i was running out of my ways to say “communication” and “intellect” thanks to all the air in the rest of svt. 

so now i’m gonna try and get through this WHOLE READING without saying those words EVER AGAIN

he’s definitely going to want a very playful relationship. 

so someone who can keep up with his energy when it peaks. 

someone who will hype him up when necessary

or at the very least, someone who wont try and cramp his style if he decides he wants to do something fun or show off. 

with an aries venus, he’s going to be drawn to those who have very warm and active energies about them. 

it also makes him a mixture of ULTRA AFFECTIONATE and suuuuper mischievous when it comes to his s/o. 

he likes to poke fun and joke around. 

so someone who wants to be smothered in love who will return the sentiment

but also someone who will receive his more playful antics while also giving him a very satisfying back-and-forth. 

i imagine he’s very good at exchanging this role where he’s the one joking around and his s/o is like 😔smh 

but then his more rational and doting virgo mars comes out and he can be the one whose like 😔while his s/o goes out and makes a fool of themselves. 

he has a very earnest and clumsy way of approaching relationships. 

aries venus’ tend to have very “childlike” and light-hearted (albeit a little unrealistic) ideas of how to impress their s/o. 

he wants to come across cool, wants to show off and show up for his s/o where there is this whole dynamic of “look at what i can do!!” and “i can handle it no problem” 

and it’s all with the hope that he can look skilled, competent, and honestly just hot. 

but then you have these earth influences through taurus and virgo in his mercury and mars respectively, and this sentiment also comes from a much more grounded and modest place. 

so you can really trust he’d still do those things even if he didn’t receive the fanfare (although he does truly appreciate it)

as i said, virgo placements are naturally very doting and earth in general strongly values physical/concrete representations of commitment/presence in relationships. 

virgo is the influence of lifestyle, domesticity, and healing. 

and so he wants someone who will let him take care of them, who is receptive and appreciative of these efforts. 

he wouldn’t really vibe well with someone who was overly independent to the point they resisted said help. 

it also adds an appreciation for the routine, and so he’s looking for someone who can integrate themselves into his life in ways that maintain structure and order. 

it also makes him love the mundane things! 

like cooking dinner together, doing chores together, shopping together, or honestly just sitting around maybe reading or watching tv. 

mingyu is super interesting tho because he has two sides to him.

he is a very passionate, straight-forward, and magnanimous person but he also has a chart that’s simultaneously very sensitive, reserved, and potentially retreated. 

his initial energy is pretty unrelenting with an aries sun at the helm of his chart. 

his chart really spares no expense when it comes to life and love. 

to put it in perspective, you have cap influences which spare no expense in the sense of being resourceful and hating waste or anything ancillary. 

and then you have aries influences that see no need to be reserved or stingy in any sense.  

nothing is put to waste and THEN SOME with aries placements. 

and this is certainly true with mingyu, and so having someone who leans into that passion, enthusiasm, and generousity would be great for him. 

someone who would find his clumsy, innocent, and potentially blunt approach to romance endearing. 

this also makes him a very affectionate, open, and attached person. 

i imagine once he has feelings for someone, it probably takes milliseconds before he starts flirting and joking around with them. 

he truly does not waste time on that front

(although he also has these placements that make him one of the most adorable, flustered, and smitten guys when he has a crush). 

he really likes that feeling of “conquest” when it comes to wooing someone

and so he may like someone who isn’t as assertive who he can approach first (although he will not have patience for someone who plays hard to get). 

and then obviously that aries brings a sense of energy to relationships.

but what’s interesting with mingyu is that i wouldn’t necessarily say he needs a super exciting and adventurous relationship because of that. 

with a pisces moon, taurus mercury, and virgo mars -- he’s actually a pretty calm and leisurely guy himself. 

he may want to do a bunch of different things with his s/o, and so someone who is open for adventure and new experiences would be great.

but as i said before, with a virgo mars that puts an emphasis towards domesticity, i imagine he’d be pretty satisfied with a more mellow and realistic relationship once it settles past the honeymoon phase. 

so that sense of excitement may speak to what peaks his interest romantically as well as his initial approach, but longterm he’s looking for something much more predictable and reasonable. 

aries placements can also be pretty protective. 

once he’s bonded with someone, he’s going to have a very “they’re mine” attitude. 

he wants their attention, he wants to be the first on their list, and dislikes competition or anything that can give him insecurity in this sense 

(although his chart makes him very kind-hearted, forgiving, and gentler than someone with a more “pure” aries energy). 

he wants to be the best in every single category in their eyes which isn’t particularly the most realistic mindset. 

so it’d be great if his s/o would play along, do what they can to make him feel good, and will put him on this pedestal to a degree

but also someone who can be realistic, sweet, and caring when they have to kinda of let him down or assert their own boundaries/preferences

like “i love you babe but this is ridiculous” 

cuz he also doesn’t really like getting scolded or told what to do, but is very receptive and accommodating to others so long as the approach is clear yet gentle and very non-chastising.

and this just stems from his desire to do good by his partner. 

even if he doesn’t succeed in his attempts or it comes across weird, he really just wanted to do something nice for his s/o, wanted to protect them, and wanted them to be proud of him. 

so having that acknowledged at the core of it is very important. 

if his partner is overly critical and doesn’t take into account his positive intention, he’s going to feel frustrated and neglected 

and this is because he DOES have this super clumsy aries inflence. 

he can be rather impulsive, or at the very least not overly concerned with the vast implications of his actions, and so he isn’t wholly paying attention to every single thing he’s doing. 

and so someone who is more knit-picky and more detail focused when trying to interpret actions wouldn’t be compatible with him. 

i feel especially with a fire sun and water moon, he may struggle with his actions not fully lining up with his intentions. 

and so that dynamic would get very discouraging over time. 

i see this all the time with jeonghan, that infamous sister sign combo. 

jeonghan is much more nuanced in how he interprets actions. 

where as mingyu is much more literal, plain, and straight-forward himself. 

lol like during their breakfast vlive in nyc. 

mingyu was like “i’m a good roommate” 

and jeonghan was like “uhhh?? i’m a good roommate too????? excuse you???” 

and mingyu was like “i know???”

like he didn’t mean to imply jeonghan wasn’t a good roommate but it came across that way to someone like jeonghan who is very mindful of implications. 

lol that may not be the best example, but it’s good that whoever mingyu is dating understand there really isn’t any hidden meaning or hidden agenda with him. 

or if there is, he’s incredibly bad at hiding it.

what you see is what you get, and over interpretation runs the risk of causing unnecessary conflict. 

but then we get into the other side of his interesting dichotomy. 

while he is this very dedicated, loving, and attached person thanks to his aries influences. 

he also has a lot in his chart that indicates he needs a great deal of freedom and space. 

his aries influences assert their independence and autonomy without thinking twice, and being restrained in that regard may frustrate him if he has to start second guessing everything he does. 

although those pisces/virgo placements do make him very considerate in comparison, so it’s more so ensuring that he isn’t being restrained in ways he feels needless or petty. 

then his pisces moon strongly indicates that he’s the type to need space to process emotions and life in general. 

pisces moons are very reactive, empathetic people and can often times get overwhelmed if they aren’t given room to breath. 

he takes in everything and absorbs all of the energies given to him, and then his aries influences come in and insist he needs to be a part of the action at all times

so there is a strong potential to kind of wear himself out if he isn’t careful. 

so while he is very go, go, go with that aries 

he’s going to need to retreat every now and again thanks to that pisces moon. 

so someone who is understanding of that who can give him that room to breath, who wont question it, and can simply let him be. 

it’d also be great if they can read him well, as once he’s at that point he may not be the most verbal in his discomfort. 

he may honestly just leave once hes had enough and decides he needs to turn off the noise. 

but with that pisces moon in general, this does make him a very emotionally intelligent person although he may not fully understand it himself.

rather than verbally, he’s going to bond with someone through emotional closeness and understanding. 

and so he’d like someone who is receptive to that, who doesn’t put as much emphasis on verbal connection who’d return the favor of keeping themselves sensitive and empathetic to him. 

otherwise the relationship may feel superficial to him if everything needs to be explicitly stated or asked for, which is reinforced by the lack of air in his chart. 

he doesn’t always want to talk things out, he sometimes just wants to leave them be and sit in it. 

and someone who picks and prods to the point of excess in that sense would really frustrate him. 

SO IN GENERAL. 

a sense of humor and excitement is key with him. 

he wants a relationship filled with laughter. 

he doesn’t want a relationship that weighs too heavily to him. 

there should be an equal attempt on both parts to keep things light, supportive, and unrestrictive. 

there should also be this sense of amplification. 

he wants to be encouraged and uplifted.

that aries can make him so energetic and antsy, and so having a receptive and equally playful partner to release that energy with is something he really likes.

but beyond that, i think he has a very realistic idea of the type of relationship he wants ultimately. 

he wants a very supportive s/o. 

someone who makes him feel good about himself and boosts his confidence when necessary. 

but more realistically, he wants someone he can build a life with and offer that support to in more concrete ways. 

he’s so affectionate, so loving, and so generous. 

he really wants someone he can dote on, take care of, and who will offer the same courtesy to him. 

and honestly just someone who is going to accept and appreciate everything in excess he wants to give

may it be affection, empathy, forgiveness, understanding, support, service and all that cute adorable mingyu stuff. 

[let-me-write-shit]

Like We Used To: 14

A/N: Next Chapter starts the interviews! If there’s any questions you might want to be asked, or if there’s something you’d like me to incorporate in any of the future chapters, let me know! I love hearing from you! 

I’m gonna try to put up the next chapter later tonight, so make it quick!! :) :) 

PLEASE don’t forget to like/reblog/message me if you like it. It’s suuuuper helpful

[CLICK HERE FOR PREVIOUS CHAPTERS]

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“I cannot believe I let you talk me into this,” Elizabeth shifted in the passenger seat of Harry’s car, staring out at the streets of London.

It was nearly 10 AM and the two were on their way to the airport to travel to LA for a week for some promotional interviews for Harry’s upcoming performance in New York next month before a new album is released. Somehow Harry and Judy managed to gang up on Elizabeth. He even got Kate to call her in the middle of her honeymoon to convince Elizabeth to go. So Thursday and Friday were spent finishing up as much work as she could get done, visiting the office to tie up any loose ends and let her staff know that she would be out of town for a bit, and spending her free time relaxing with Harry.

Harry seemed to be spending his free time either watching movies, writing emails, on phone calls, or, what Elizabeth assumed, writing new songs. By the end of the week it was pretty much tradition to end the day sharing a sleeve of oreos and going on a late night walk around town. Luckily her neighborhood wasn’t too busy so no one was hardly ever outside to notice them. At least there was no buzz in the tabloids on Harry’s whereabouts since his appearance at the club the previous weekend.

“Well, with the help of Judy I can be pretty persuasive,” Harry grinned at her, turning into a gated lot. A small plane was parked in the middle of a huge runway with a couple people standing around the bottom of the stairs and a few other cars parked around it. Harry must have noticed Elizabeth’s uneasiness as he parked the car because he squeezed her hand and whispered, “Don’t be nervous, it’ll be fine. I already warned my manager that you’d be tagging along and the band is excited to meet you.”

Elizabeth nodded and the two of them stepped out of the car, letting the wind whip her hair around, clutching onto her purse and laptop bag that hung around her shoulder. Harry walked beside her, his hand on the small of her back, leading her over towards two men and one woman, handing his car keys to one of the men. They all greeted Harry with high-fives and hugs before smiling at Elizabeth.

Harry started the introductions, “Elizabeth this is Jeffrey, my manager,” he introduced the man he gave his keys to and continued, “Lisa does videography and photography whenever we travel, and Kenneth is my bodyguard. We keep him around whenever we travel for work, but usually he’ll only be with us when we’re at interviews and such.”

“Very nice to meet you,” Lisa smiled sweetly, shaking Elizabeth’s hand and earning a nod from Kenneth.

“So you’re Harry’s old school friend, are you?” Jeffrey asked, and joked, “I heard he practically bullied you into coming?”

Elizabeth let out a small chuckle, “Yeah, he just keeps nagging you until you say yes!”

“I know the feeling,” Jeffrey nodded as they all laughed, “Handsome boy, but dead annoying. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you company whenever Harry’s preoccupied. I bet we’re more fun than him anyways.”

“Excuse me, I take offence to that,” Harry jested.

“As you should,” Jeffrey said before looking between the both of them, “So you’ve both got your passports with ya, then? Great. Go on up, then. Everyone’s in there waiting.”

Harry nodded and led Elizabeth towards the steps of the private airplane, almost reaching for her hand before she lightly pushed it away, unsure of what them holding hands might look like. He didn’t seem too phased by that and continued on up. Harmonious shouting occurred as the two walked further onto the plane. Harry gestured for her to sit in the window seat while introducing her to his backing band members Mitch, Sarah, Adam, Ny, and Charlotte. Elicabeth’s worry of what Harry’s friends’ and crew would think of her started to disappear as they got to talking. 

An airport worker came to load the bags from Harry’s trunk to the airplane before taking his car away and within thirty minutes they were ready for takeoff. Airplane safety instructions were given and as soon as they were in the air Jeffrey gave everyone the rundown. It would be an eleven and a half hour flight. They would arrive in LA at nearly 3 PM their time. Immediately from landing they would head straight to hotel check-in where they got free reign for the rest of the night, though they were given ‘strong suggestions’ to make it an early night as they had to be up by 6 AM to head to their first performance at a news station. The performance wouldn’t be until 8 AM, but they needed to get their equipment set up and rehearse.

“So, wait, did they get me my own hotel room, or….?” Elizabeth whispered to Harry, not wanting the others to hear.

He whispered back, “No, I have a house in LA, so you’ll be coming with me there. Everyone else has a hotel room. Except Sarah and Mitch share a room. They’re dating.”

Elizabeth nodded, understandingly, before Adam spoke, smiling, “So, Harry didn’t tell us much. Just that you two were friends since you were fourteen? Is that right?”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth confirmed, “Knew him before all of this….” she looked around at the airplane.

“Wow,” Adam nodded, “And was he a little shit back then, too?”

“Excuse me,” Harry interrupted, “Little shit? Watch your tone, sir. I’m a big shit. A big, masculine shit, thank you very much.”

They all continued to banter for a bit, making Elizabeth relax. They were all given lunch, but it didn’t take long before everyone started doing their own thing. Sarah and Mitch cuddled up and watched a movie, Adam and Ny started scrolling through their phones, Harry was talking with Jeffrey, and Charlotte fell asleep. Elizabeth used the time to get even more work done so that she could be completely free tomorrow. By 7 hours into the flight everyone seemed to take Charlotte’s lead and went to bed. 

It felt like seconds before Elizabeth was being shaken awake. She fluttered her eyes open, immediately looking out the window to notice their descent before looking over at Harry who was grinning at her. His hair was disheveled and a red mark was bright on his cheek from where he fell asleep on his wrist, clearly haven been just woken up.

“We’re getting ready to land,” his groggy voice drawled.

Elizabeth looked around to see most everyone else stirring awake and Mitch glancing between Harry and outside. He didn’t speak much, but when he did he was really sweet and very funny. She looked around sheepishly, unsure of what to do when they exited the plane as everyone was kind of unloading their things and going over details on when and where they would be meeting in the morning. Eventually an SUV pulled up and a man got out, waiting patiently. Jeffrey directed him to Harry and Elizabeth’s luggage and he began loading up the car.

Harry broke away from the group who all shouted a “see you later” at him and Elizabeth before the two of them slid into the SUV.

“You alright?” Harry asked her.

Elizabeth smiled coyly, “Yeah they’re all nicer than I thought they’d be. Was just a bit overwhelmed. I think I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I even came. And it’s so hot here, what the hell? It’s October in a few days' time!”

The car started off and Harry laughed, “We’re not in England anymore, that’s for sure. You get used to it, though,” he reassured before asking, “So I was just talking with Mitch about him and Sarah coming over tonight to chill out with us if that’s okay?”

Elizabeth shrugged, “Yeah, sure, why not? It’s not my house.”

“What do you say we grab some dinner first? It’s only 3:30, but I was thinking once we get back to my place we could get our stuff settled and then go out and grab something to eat?”

“Will people not notice you eating out with a random girl?”

“I’m not too worried about it, honestly,” Harry smiled, “What, do you not want to be seen with me?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to be seen with you. It’s just...we’re still trying to figure this whole thing out and I don’t want it to then be made into a big deal for you.”

Harry smiled, “I’ll be fine, love. It’s just dinner.”

Her heart fluttered a bit. When they got to Harry’s house, Elizabeth looked around in awe. It was, for all intents and purposes, a mansion. Sleek and modern, it had four bedrooms and six bathrooms. Who needs six bathrooms?! It even had a heated outdoor pool and hot tub. There wasn’t much in the way of decoration, but she figured it’s probably because he’s just a guy and he spends more time in England, anyway. 

She followed Harry with her luggage up to Harry’s room and dropped them in the corner. He decided to take a quick shower while she got situated, touching up her makeup and unloading some of her clothes. She had been in the middle of a text to Matt when Harry walked out of the bathroom. A towel was wrapped around his waist, his water glistened on his skin and his hair looked like a wet mop.

“You can’t just come in here lookin like that,” she motioned vaguely at him, sitting up on his bed.

“It’s my bedroom!” he retorted, ruffling his hair, “Am I making you nervous?”

Elizabeth groaned, “Don’t do this to me. I’m starving! I can’t think straight on an empty stomach.”

He laughed, dropping his towel, exposing himself, before pulling on a pair of briefs, “You know, I’m starting to think you’re just using me for my body.”

“I definitely am just using you for your body!” Elizabeth joked, “You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”

“None at all.”

It was 5:30 by the time they were ready to get dinner. There was a chinese food place not too far from his house that they decided they wanted to eat at. It wasn’t too fancy, so Elizabeth didn’t bother changing her clothes before heading over there. Parking was horrendous in LA, so they had to park a block away, but luckily the restaurant wasn’t too crazy for a Saturday night. He informed her that most people in LA either postmated their food, or ate later in the evening. 

The staff did recognize him, so they were able to get a seat at a booth towards the back. Dinner was fantastic. They were able to sneak a few quick hand-holds in before finishing up. On the way to the car they heard a few people shout Harry’s name at a distance, but he didn’t seem to pay any mind to it as he took her hand and led her to the car. While driving out of the lot, though, she noticed a man with a camera on the corner snapping a few pictures of his car.

“Harry?” she questioned, slightly concerned.

“Yeah, I see him,” he acknowledged, biting his cheek.

She decided to drop it and they continued back to Harry’s house. 

Mitch and Sarah had arrived a little after 8 PM after the sun had set. The four of them took some wine and a pack of oreos to Harry’s seating area beside the pool in the back, Mitch and Sarah on a couch across from Elizabeth and Harry, and got to know Elizabeth some more while music played softly over his house speakers. They had asked about the friendship with Harry when they were younger, told stories of their childhood, and talked about their current lives. Harry and Elizabeth shared a sleeve of oreos, again, joking about it with his bandmates before putting it away. She felt like they could really open up to them, like they were forming a real friendship.

“I can’t believe you almost got into a fight with her ex boyfriend!” Sarah put a hand on her cheek, “Good on you, though. He sounds like a creep, no offence.”

“None taken,” Elizabeth nodded, taking a sip from her glass of wine, “It was a long time coming.”

“It must be nice to still have close friends from when you were just children,” Mitch commented and turned to Harry, “Do you feel like you missed out? I mean, I know you said you had lost touch for a while, but….?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah. But I’m just glad to be back in it now. That’s why I practically forced her to come with me. I didn’t want to have a repeat of last time.”

Mitch and Sarah nodded in silence, but the stare Mitch gave seemed almost like he was peering into their soul. He finally spoke again, “Alright, so you two are dating then, or?”

Elizabeth glanced at Harry seeing a shocked smile form on his face, “Uhm...no. We’re not officially dating yet.”

“What does that even mean?” Sarah grinned, furrowing her eyebrows at the two of them.

Harry cleared his throat, “Jesus, with the interrogation tonight. It means that we’re enjoying each other’s company and elevating our friendship slowly.”

“You sure do have a way with words, don’t you?” Elizabeth laughed. “I’m just...not ready to have that official label yet, so for now I’m just a ‘friend’..”

Mitch nodded, “I understand. You just need to dip your toe into this world first.”

“Exactly!”

They spent a little more time talking until the song ‘Comethru’ by Jeremy Zuker started playing on the speakers.

“Oh, I love this song!” Elizabeth exclaimed, swaying in her seat. 

Harry looked over at her with a smile before standing up and offering his hand for a dance. Elizabeth looked at it hesitantly, and slightly embarrassed, taking a peak at Mitch and Sarah. They smiled kindly at her and Harry, so Elizabeth took this as a sign that it was okay and took his hand. He led her a few feet over towards the pool a bit more before turning to her, draping her free hand on his shoulder before wrapping an arm around her waist, still holding onto her other hand. She relaxed her head into Harry’s chest as the two swayed. In seconds Mitch and Sarah joined them, dancing under the stars.

The next, more upbeat song began to play and Mitch turned to them, “Oh, Harry, that reminds me. I had a few more ideas for those songs we were working on if I can show you real quick?”

Harry nervously switched footing, breaking apart from Elizabeth, “Uh, yeah. Let’s just go into the office,” he looked hesitantly at the girls, “Are you two okay for a bit?”

“I think we can manage,” Elizabeth snorted, making Sarah laugh.

KEEP READING

[sopeyb23-blog]

Coming Home

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9

Summary: While Spencer recovers at OC’s old home, she is forced to tell what happened to her there.

Warnings: Anxiety, Trauma, Injury, hit and run, stalking, swearing, angst, panic, suicide (past)

pairing: Spencer Reid X OC

Words: 2K

A/N: this ones suuuuper dark people, i’m not gonna lie. Its longer than usual because I am hoping to finish this series with the next chapter! If criminal minds style plots trigger you I wouldn’t recommend this chapter is pretty dark.

*I do not own any CM characters 

~~~~~~~~

Part 9

Spencer~

For the days that we stayed in her house, I never once saw a sign in her parents, or even her sister for that matter, that would tell me about what happened to her here. Not that I was looking so hard. It’s difficult sometimes, to keep myself from looking at all the little moves people make. It's difficult to not immediately think the worst of everyone around me after all of the horrible parts of humanity that I’ve seen. I had been in situations similar to hers before. I knew the pain of thinking that your trauma is something for only you to handle. The terrifying feeling that maybe it won't go away, thinking constantly that I’m just a burden. I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone, especially not anyone I love as much as her. 

I looked up from my seat at the counter to where Sophie and her sister were talking in hushed voices. Every once in a while I would see the both of them look at the pictures adorning the walls of the house. At some of them they would give a faint smile, while at others a small grimace. I heard little bits of their conversations sometimes, slowly putting together what I missed.

“We promised not to talk about-” 

“Well we also said we wouldn't-”

“Have you seen-”

“No, I assumed they were-”

It was that moment, that I'm sure of. The moment none of them would speak of. Something that not only made the three siblings closer than ever, but also more afraid of losing one another than they ever had been. Something big enough to scare two of three of them out of the state the same year, to never come back. Something so terrifying to all of them that they would never even talk about it.

Sophie~

Spencer sat at my kitchen counter slowly eating the soup I had made for him the previous night. Lu and I were in the doorway to the living room talking as quietly as we could.

“If you would just tell him we wouldn’t have to-” 

“No, not yet, I don’t want to have to bring him into this!”

We were talking about that night. The night that the three of us would keep guarded forever. Less than two months after that night I left for college and never came back. That is, until now. I knew I had to tell Spencer. I was waiting until we could go home. When I wasn't here anymore, then maybe, but it seemed that we wouldn't be leaving for at least another week. I didn't want to keep dodging his questions. But the fact of the matter is, not only does this change everything for him, but for me as well. And I am notoriously bad with change. After keeping this to myself for all these years, the prospect of telling someone else terrified me. Even if that person was Spencer.

“Sophie, I love you, you know that. We both know what happened wasn't our fault. But not telling him doesn't make it go away. You have to do it. Staying here without him knowing just puts him and you more at risk than ever.”

Spencer~

Now that, I heard. Loud and clear even though my brain was hazy from pain and sleep. What risk? If something happened to her I don’t know what I would do. Another loss in my life would be too much. I only had her left to lose. She's all I have left. 

“Sophie if you're in trouble you know I would help you, right?” I attempted to stay quiet but the thought of her trying to do this on her own was one step I wasn’t willing to take.

She quickly turned around after hearing my voice and rubbed a hand over her forehead.

“If somethings wrong you need to tell me. I can help.” she put her hand down and walked toward me. 

“I know, Spence, I know” she sat down on the stool next to me and took my hand.

“How about we take a walk?” Her eyes pleaded with me not to say anything more for the moment, and I complied. She helped me up from the seat and kept her hand on my back as she walked me out of the house.

“There's a place, out back, I used to go there when I was upset, it's quiet so we can talk”

Her voice rang with sadness and defeat but her eyes stayed looking toward the ground and she walked with me on a small gravel path leading behind the house.

Sophie~

This is not how it was supposed to happen. I was going to take him back home, I was going to put on the tea kettle and make us both peppermint tea. I was going to sit beside him on the couch in our living room and tell him about that night. But here I am, walking with him back to the place I used to come to cry when I was young. Preparing to tell him something that would change everything. 

“Right here, Spence. Sit.” I sat him on a log bench overlooking the ocean behind my house. I stood before him for a second, contemplating how to tell him before sitting beside him on the bench.

“It started when I was sixteen”

I laughed and opened up my car door, throwing my backpack in the backseat before moving to the front. On the front seat was a little envelope, presumably slipped through the little crack at the top of my window. It was addressed to me in dark bold lettering, but handwriting that I didn’t recognize. I sent a picture to my best friend at the time, Ben. He responded almost immediately:

B: wasn’t me, I promise! Where'd you find that?

S: my car, it was just sitting on the driver's seat, should I open it?

B: ummmm, Yeah!! But send me a picture of what it says!

I carefully opened the envelope, trying my best to not rip- 

“Wait, wait, wait.” Spencer stopped me in my tracks and put his hand out in front of him like he was stopping a car in the road.

“Ben? Isn't he-”

“The one that killed himself the first year we were dating” I stopped him in his tracks and gulped after I said it. It was never an easy thing to talk about, even so long after. But he comes in later, and I have too much of the story left to start crying now, so I continued.

I opened it to find a badly folded bit of construction paper with a note saying “I always love it when you wear braids” behind the paper was about six or seven pictures of me. All of them were in color and taken from afar, usually at my back, with the braids that I wore so often circled on each photo in red sharpie. I took a few photos to send to Ben but didn't wait for a response before securing the envelope in my glove compartment and locking my doors. I right away texted my sister the photos as well and drove off as fast as I could from the school parking lot.

“So you were being stalked?”

“In short, yes. It got worse and much more frequent. After that I stopped wearing my braids as often. I figured, if that's what he wants I'm sure as hell not giving it to him. But the pictures kept coming, until one day a few months after the first envelope my mom found one on my doorstep.”

“Oh, Sophie, I forgot to tell you, I put a letter for you on your desk, I found it on the porch.” my heart stopped when she told me. He had never left them at my home before. He had left them in my car, in my locker, in my school bag even, but never once at my home. I never told my mom, only my siblings and Ben. I faked a smile to her after I could calm my breathing enough to speak.

“Thanks, Mom, I'll look at it a bit. It's probably just an invitation or something” I couldn't bring her into this, especially not now that he knew where I lived. 

I took photos of the new envelope. The same handwriting adorned the note and my name written on the outside. Again the note was written with a red sharpie on badly folded construction paper. Again six or seven photos with markings all over the pictures in the same red sharpie as on the note. This time, the pictures were closer. Some still far away, but those taken from afar were through windows. Some even into my bedroom.

“And you didn't go to the police?” Spencer's voice yet again interrupted me from the memories that were so prevalent in my mind.

“No. The new note said I couldn't. I was a young woman, in Maine, Spence. No one would have taken me seriously even if I had. Besides, in that same note he wrote the address of all of my friends and family. He promised to kill them If I told anyone.” Spencer said nothing but his eyes and shoulders sank. He put a hand on my leg and rubbed as he saw me shake. Even all these years later the very thought of it scared me so bad that I could barely breathe.

It continued like that for two years. Once a month at least I would get an envelope. I never saw him. After I graduated there were a few months where I didn’t get a note. I thought it was over. My brother and my sister came back to Maine for the summer. I was accepted into an accelerated MD program at Tufts and was leaving in a few months. Then, three months before I was supposed to leave, the notes came back. 

“Lu, I don't know what to do!” I sat on the couch in our living room and cried to her while my brother stood by the wall reading the note. After he was done reading, he grabbed my hand and looked me dead in the eyes.

“We’re going to the school” He helped me and Lu up from the couch and we all got in his car.

“Dominic, we can’t! You saw the last one! He knows where we live!” 

“He said we couldn't go to the police, he never said anything about the school” 

And so, we went. He parked in the back and locked the car with the windows rolled up even with the summer heat. He walked in front of me and Lu behind me. And then we went in. 

“So you told the school?”

“We tried. It was already dark by the time we had gotten there. There was no one in the building, so we left.”

Defeated, Dominic promised me that we would go as soon as we could the next day and he and Lu walked out of the building towards the car. I swear before it happened I felt something was wrong. There was nothing that could have told me that, I know. But as I stepped off of that curb in front of the building, chills went up my spine. I looked up to see the face of a boy in my class. I didn't even know his name but I recognized him. He was driving a car. A red Ford truck. As I smiled up to him I didn't even notice his engine revving. He hit me full force and drove off without a second of hesitation. 

I was sobbing now, remembering the pain that I felt before I went unconscious. I was barely conscious for a minute before I passed out. But still that was the worst pain I had felt in my life. Spencer rubbed my back and coached me through breathing as best he could. His face was a mixture of panic and sadness but he said nothing as he helped me breathe.

“I should have died that night, maybe then he would have left us all alone”

[sincerelymarinette]

A Recorded Life (39/50) - Miraculous Ladybug

Words: 1502 Chapter Summary: Jagged Stone has an announcement! Marinette has a lot going on soon, and it's the first video of Adrien vs. Jobs where Adrien gets to work in the Dupain-Cheng Bakery! Author's Note: suuuuper late update (it's still Sunday in California!!) oh look another busy week but i love this story I'm determined to update! I wanted to make an edit of how Marinette's end screen would look but I didn't get to it, so maybe next update :) hope everyone is doing well and staying safe!

Prev / Next / Masterlist

Adrien vs. Jobs 1: The Bakery

---

Nine days until the gala.

JAGGED @JaggedStone I'm excited to finally announce the release date of my new album, Greener Grass! We released Lift Up a few weeks ago, and I'll admit it was a little premature of a release, but I was so excited to share new music!

JAGGED @JaggedStone That being said, get ready to rock out next Friday! Since I made you all wait so long since the single, we pushed it as close as I could get it!

JAGGED @JaggedStone Pre-order merch bundles and album cover posters here: jaggedstonestore.com Don't forget to get your favorite @MarinetteDC cover in stores and collect them all in poster and merch form! I can't wait for you all to see them in person, they're AMAZING!

Every time Jagged Stone tweeted about Marinette, her follower count spiked. It was crazy that it happened every time he said something about her, but he does have a lot of fans, so it makes sense. She was also astonished at how fast he wanted to release the album, but ever since Marinette got all the covers finished, he was itching to just drop it all right away. His fans would surely be excited, just as she was.

It just so happened that Jagged's release date was the same day as the Agreste Gala, so that would be a busy day for sure. She sat at the lunch table with her headphones in as she waited for her friends, scrolling through Twitter and retweeting Jagged Stone's tweets. He also said to look out for another single drop at midnight to bring back the hype of the album, and she was excited.

Marinette may have heard the album already, or at least the demos, but she was still excited for the formal release of the songs. She heard her email ding, and switched tabs to see an email from Jagged (and Penny).

Hey Marinette!

I hope you've seen the announcements I made on social media today. If not, the album is set to be out next Friday! We're all excited to show off the music and your artwork, and Penny and I had an idea about how to push marketing over the edge.

You know sometimes artists do an explanation of their songs? I've done one once but it was a while ago, maybe my second album, so I'm not sure if you've heard it. But I think it would be awesome if we could do one for this album! I explain the song process, and you talk about your process for the designs. A lot of fans really love you and your artwork, that I think it would be amazing.

We could record them for both an album and videos you could post on your channel if you'd like. Reminds me of like a podcast, which sounds like a lot of fun. Are you in? I'm thinking we record it Monday or Tuesday next week because it would have to be a pretty quick turn around.

Penny will send you more details if you're interested! Hope to see you soon.

Rock on, Jagged Stone

"Hey, Mari," Adrien smiled wide as he sat across from Marinette at the table. She took her headphones out and smiled back before starting to type as fast as possible to respond.

"You guys see Jagged Stone's tweets?" Nino asked as he took a seat next to Adrien. "I'm sure Marinette has, but I'm so excited! His album comes out in like a week!" Nino said.

Both Marinette and Adrien nodded. "I'm sure it's gonna be amazing. And I can't wait to buy all the Marinette and Jagged merch!"

"What are you so interested in?" Alya asked, sneaking up behind Marinette and unknowingly cutting off Adrien.

Marinette took a break from typing and sat back. "An email from Jagged Stone. He wants to do one of those explaining the album podcasts, which would be so cool," Marinette explained. "So I'm replying. Hey, are you busy Monday or Tuesday after school?"

"Nope, you need me to come with you to run the camera?" Alya winked.

"You know it!" Marinette said and turned to the boys. "Sorry guys, I don't know if you'll be able to come with," She apologized.

Adrien and Nino looked at each other and back to Marinette. "I guess we'll just have to have guy time then," Nino shrugged and took a bite of his food. "But I expect we all get together and listen to it as soon as it comes out!" He smiled wide.

"Maybe the day after," Adrien added. "We have the gala on Friday, so if our investigation comes up dry, we'll listen on Saturday!"

Marinette pressed send on the email and shut her laptop to eat lunch with friends. After a little bit of conversation, she was finally allowed to get into YouTube talk. "So, Adrien, are you excited to run the register at the bakery today?" She winked.

"Oh, it's going to be the best. Your parents are excited, too," Adrien smiled.

"Bleh," Alya chuckled. "You guys have been dating for like four days, tone it down."

Nino didn't say much, only laughed at the situation as the three went back and forth. "Oh yeah!" Marinette said. "I need your opinion on a video idea, you know, to confirm things to the fans."

---

The middle of the week meant that the bakery could be bustling, or only steady, which was perfect for the video. Marinette had introduced the video, and Sabine was teaching Adrien the basics already.

"So, I think we have officially decided to call this Adrien vs. Jobs, and my mother is getting ahead of schedule and already teaching Adrien! Marinette hinted for Sabine to wait, but she didn't listen.

"Oh yeah, disclaimer, most of this will be in French, but I will subtitle it in English," Marinette said, in English, and walked over to the register to show the camera how it looked.

Sabine was explaining the different buttons to Adrien, in French, and how to ring people up. "Most times, customers will tell you exactly what they want because they read the signs, but other times it's a guessing game. So if you need help, don't be afraid to ask."

"But don't forget this is a challenge, and I will be judging you," Marinette winked.

In response, Adrien stuck his tongue out jokingly. "I think I can do this; thank you. At least a little bit."

Luckily, it wasn't too busy in the bakery. There were just enough people to keep Adrien on his toes, but he wasn't overwhelmed, and it gave him a chance to figure out how to do everything. In the beginning, he had to ask Sabine for help, but with more patient and straightforward customers, it was much easier to understand, and he was able to figure it out.

He even made a few tips (which he gave right back to Sabine) and was having a lot of fun. He got to talk to Parisians, which he didn't get to do as a regular person as much, and wear an apron with fun pockets, and smell the delicious baked goods for a few hours. Tom was making the last of the goodies in the back, and it smelled as beautiful as they looked, and they could barely keep the goods on the shelves!

Adrien loved learning all the different names od the food they carried and getting to box or bag it up for the customer, who was always happy with what the Dupain-Cheng bakery delivered.

He was quite surprised by how he was able to pick up on all the different things the bakery did. It probably helped that he was having fun talking to all customers and bantering with Marinette, as well as watching how much Sabine and Tom love their job.

They helped close up the shop, and Adrien got a celebratory macaroon. After heading upstairs, Marinette was able to finish up the video.

"Well, I definitely think that Adrien could get a job at the bakery if he needs it. My mom clearly loved having the extra hands, and she loves Adrien anyways. What do you think, Adrien?" Marinette asked.

"It was a lot of fun! I would say it was a successful beginning to the series. Which is good, because there will probably be some fails," He chuckled. "Do you want a rematch at Mario Kart?"

Marinette nodded, and Adrien ran to the TV to set it up. "Well, I guess that means I should end the video. Leave a comment on what job you think Adrien should try next! And don't forget to follow us on social media and subscribe to never miss a video!" Marinette said. "Thank you so much for watching, and I will see you next time!" And she set the camera down.

"Okay, I'm ready to beat your butt at Mario Kart...again!" Marinette grabbed the controller and sat down next to Adrien.

"That's what you think."

---

@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies @bookishserendipity03 @avatheexceed @gkz10 @coccinellegirl @kat-thatoneweirdo @strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman @lilgaga98 @evufries      

[stylesgalaxy]

mastermind; chapter 14

Early update again lol! I'm just so exciteddddd! Anyway, enjoy this suuuuper long chapter lovely people!!! :)

***

The next day after our art history class (where we aced our quiz), Harry asks me a question that shakes me.

We were in the café like usual and there was a lull in the conversation as I finish my soup. Harry leans forward and bites his lip nervously.

"Aria," he says. I hum back in response. "You know my biggest secret, right?"

I pause and look up at him. I wasn't sure if he had a bigger secret but since he said this, I guess not.

"Your family? You don't talk about them much to other people."

"No. Not that. You're right, I don't, but Julia knows about my family. And Julia doesn't know... my biggest secret."

I frown. What was he—

"Oh," I say softly. "Is it, um, the thing you told me... about sometimes feeling like Julia isn't the one for you?"

Harry looks at me expressionless then nods. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, I wonder why Harry would bring this up.

"So," he says suddenly, snapping out of his daze and leaning forward on his arms with a shit eating grin. "You know my biggest secret, what's your biggest secret?"

And that was what startled me. Just imagine the irony: the person who is the reason for my biggest secret, asking me what my biggest secret was.

I shake my head at him.

"Come on, Aria, please!" he begs.

"I can't," I say, feeling even more uncomfortable.

"Why?"

"I... I don't think you'd still want to be friends with me if you knew my biggest secret," I tell him honestly. That makes him even more curious but he can tell how much I don't like this conversation so he drops it.

"Okay."

I don't know why but this simple interaction bothered me. Harry was one of my closest friends and if Julia wasn't my best friend, he'd have the title. Over the past few months we'd gotten so close and we understand each other really well. If it wasn't him I was in love with, I would have trusted him completely by telling him my secret.

But I can't do anything that could compromise my friendship with him or Julia, and possibly their relationship.

"Aria?" Harry snaps me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"We have to go now, you're class starts soon," Harry says, packing his things up. Reluctantly, I pack up too. I really don't like my next class so I drag my feet the entire way there and whine.

"I think I'm just gonna go home," I tell Harry when we get to campus.

"What? No, you have class, let's go," he demands.

"Noooo, I don't want to. It's so boring and I could just go home and relax instead."

"Aria," Harry pins me with a serious look. "You're paying for an education, get the most out of it." I groan and rolls my eyes and start to complain again when he wraps a hand around my arm and pulls me with him. "Come on, I'll go with you."

"What?" I ask in confusion.

"I'll go with you to your class, that way you won't be bored 'cause I'm there, and you'll at least get your attendance marks."

I can't complain much with that so I follow Harry. He walks into the class with me and we sit at my usual spot. I pull out my laptop to get ready for note taking, while Harry takes his out to sort through his notes for his other classes and get organized. Both of us are type away silently next to each other while the professor talks, until I get distracted by the two girls sitting in the row in front of us, several seats down. They whisper amongst each other then one looks back to peek at Harry and then they look at each other and giggle.

I try not to pay them too much attention because 1. I already know Harry is taken, and 2. it's not by me. But my focus keeps shifting back to them.

"It's Louis the fifteenth," Harry mutters to me.

"Huh?" I glance at him.

He peeks over at my laptop screen and goes, "Louis the fifteenth, not sixteenth. Louis the sixteenth is a whole other mess in French history, don't think you're there just yet."

I correct the error in my notes and focus back on the lecture until I get bored again. When the professor starts showing us paintings from that time period, I open a new tab on my browser and search up a Sudoku game. A minute later, Harry snorts.

"You're hopeless," he chuckles lightly, shaking his head.

"It's educational, I'm learning something," I argue quietly. He shrugs a shoulder with a smirk.

When I start struggling in the game, he begins offering his help. We try to stay as quiet as possible to not draw attention to ourselves as he points to squares on my screen and tells me what numbers to put in. Unfortunately, we're not sneaky enough.

"You two in the back," the prof calls out. "What's all the talking about? Do you have an opinion you'd like to share with us?"

Harry and I stare at him blankly.

"Sorry, sir," I say quickly. "I was just trying to access the slides online but my Wi-Fi disconnected. My friend was just helping me get back—"

"Alright, alright, just pay attention," the old man who understands nothing about technology says. A guy behind us snorts because he can see we're clearly playing Sudoku and Harry and I bite our lips to not laugh.

The class ends soon and I leave happier than I was coming in. Harry and I head back to my place when we pass by a frozen yogurt shop.

"Hey, you want some frozen yogurt? I just remembered I have a gift card," I tell Harry. He agrees and we wait in the long line, chatting the whole time. We walk back to my house slowly because we knew as soon as we're inside we have to do work neither of us wanted that.

I unlock the apartment door and stumble in laughing at a story Harry was telling. We're taking our jackets off just as the door opens again and Julia walks in.

"Harry?" she asks.

"Hey, babe," Harry says to her, still smiling. Julia glances between us with a frown on her face, her frown only deepening when she notices the frozen yogurt cups in our hands. Harry leans in to hug her, but she stops him.

"Where were you?"

"I was with Aria," he explains. "Why, we didn't make any plans—right?"

"No, but my class ended a few hours ago and yours ends at noon today. I wanted to hang out but I couldn't find you anywhere!" she huffs, but doesn't raise her voice.

My gut wrenches and guilt washes over me.

"Oh, love, I'm so sorry. We don't usually hang out on Wednesdays... I went to the café with Aria like we always do, I would have invited you if—"

"Wait—what café? You guys go to a café together after your class?"

"Yeah! It's the really nice one called 'The Red Spoon', they have amazing food but the portions come huge so Aria and I go together so we can split it because there's so much we want to try..." Harry happily rambles on while I watch murder grow in Julia's eyes.

Fuck.

"Okay, but still," Julia interrupts him. "Where were you when she went to class? Because I checked the library and your usual study space and your house and you weren't there! Her class is at three and it's nearly five."

"I went to her lecture with her... She didn't want to go so I forced her to," Harry says sheepishly. "If—"

"And then you guys went and got frozen yogurt," Julia concludes.

"Jules, I'm sorry, I wouldn't have kept you waiting if I knew—"

"I texted you. Multiple times,' she deadpans. Harry frowns in confusion before pulling his phone out and sighing.

"Fuck, I'm so sorry. I didn't even check my phone," he rubs his face and looks at her apologetically.

"It's fine," Julia sighs, before glancing at me accusingly. Her glare makes my blood freeze and I gulp.

"Let's go now, you're fine with that right?' Harry offers. I whip to look at him, knowing he has a lot of work he wanted to get done based on everything he was organizing for himself during my class.

"Okay," Julia concedes. Harry grins and presses a kiss to her lips.

"Let me just use the restroom, really quickly, then we'll go," he says. She nods as he turns to head to the bathroom without glancing at me.

Once we hear the door close and lock click, Julia sets her gaze on me.

"When were you going to tell me you're hanging out with my boyfriend?" she hisses.

"W-what do you mean?" I stutter. "Harry and I hang out... you know that."

"I wasn't aware you two went on lunch dates together every week. I mean just yesterday I found out you have a class together and today I find out you spend time together and share meals. Not only that but he accompanies you to your classes as well. It's like you're glued to him!"

"Julia, no—" my throat closes up and fear washes over me. "It's not like that!"

"It is like that!" Julia hisses back. "I understood you and Harry hanging out more a few months ago, in fact I encouraged it! I thought this would be good for all three of us if you two got along but now you're just hogging him!"

"I'm not hogging! He came with me to my class, and I-I didn't—"

"I'm not sure I appreciate this friendship you two have together," she whispers firmly.

"What are you saying?" I ask in fear. Before she can respond, the door opens again and Harry steps out. Julia straightens up and I turn my back to them so Harry can't see my face.

"Ready?" Harry says to Julia. She grins and nods. "Okay, let's go."

They said their goodbyes to me and I lock the door behind them, resting my hand on the wall and dropping my head over it.

I'm fucked.

I did some work while anxiously waiting for Julia to return home. When she did, she silently opened the door. I glance up from the chair in the living room to see her hook her keys and wordlessly take her shoes and jacket off.

"Hey..." I say nervously. She straightens up.

"Hey."

"So what did you guys do?"

"Nothing. Just went for a movie and then got some dinner... Sucked his dick in the car."

My stomach coils but I don't let anything show on my face because I know she's watching me closely.

"Oh..." I'm unsure of how to respond. "Nice..."

"Why are you hanging around Harry all the time?" she asks bluntly.

"What—" I choke up again.

"Don't think I haven't noticed. I may seem dumb sometimes but I'm not stupid Aria. I see how well you two get along and I see the inside jokes you share between yourselves. Why are you doing this?"

"Julia, I don't understand what you're—"

"Is it because you want a boyfriend? You want one so bad that you won't bother finding your own, you just try to steal mine?"

"Okay, what?" I yell, standing up. "Where the fuck is this coming from?!"

"Shelley said—"

"Oh," I laugh. "Shelley said this? And you fucking believe her? You know she hates my guts, she'll say anything to turn you against me!"

"But it makes sense! You've never had a boyfriend before, you've never been any sort of relationship, so you try to take what's easy: my boyfriend," she quips condescendingly.

I stare at her, absolutely appalled. "I can't believe you."

"Why?"

"You... God, you're so fucking infuriating!" I scream. "I've never been in a relationship before? Ever wonder why that is?!" She blinks back at my sudden outburst. "Because I'm too busy working to keep yours together! I don't have time for myself! I just go to my classes, do my homework, work on your relationship, and go to work! While you get to spend daddy's money and then cuddle up to your boyfriend when you get tired from shopping!"

I feel bad as soon as the words leave my mouth, but I don't regret them.

"So that's how you really feel, huh?" she mutters.

"Yes. I mean, no! I don't care if you spend your dad's money, I don't care about anything you do! I just see it as unfair because sometimes I'm putting more work into your relationship than you are."

"So, what? You want Harry for half the time?"

What?

"What the fuck? You're getting this completely wrong!"

"Do you want to cuddle up to Harry?"

I can feel my face burning. From embarrassment or from how ashamed I am of how true her statement is. But I mask it as anger.

"You're not listening to me!" I scream. "He's your boyfriend! How is he going to feel when he finds out that all those things you do and say for him that he loves came from me!"

"Don't you fucking dare tell him."

I turn around and exhale loudly. I want to throw something so badly. How can she be a genius and be so fucking stupid?

"I'm done, I'm not doing this anymore," I mutter, gathering my work and walking back to my room. "Since I'm such a bitch who's apparently trying to steal your boyfriend, you go figure out how you'll handle your relationship yourself."

"Wait, Aria—"

"No, Julia. It's about time you understand how much work goes into keeping a relationship. Maybe when you do, you'll realize how stupid you just sounded."

---

Julia and I don't talk to each for the next few days, unless it's absolutely necessary. I won't talk to her until she apologizes to me, and she won't talk to me because she has too much pride to be the first to say anything.

Harry isn't around enough to notice. With his birthday coming up, he's in contact with his father a lot to prepare. Mr. Styles was working hard to fix his relationship with his son, and apparently turning twenty-one was a bigger deal to them then it is for most people. He insisted on throwing a lavish party in a huge mansion where he was going to invite some of his buddies he hadn't seen in a long time and give Harry plenty opportunities to make connections. After ten o'clock, him and his guests will leave and Harry's friends will arrive so we can have a real party amongst ourselves.

My gift for Harry was already prepared and packaged. Before our fight, I got Julia a mug with the Power Rangers name on it in respective colours, because Harry said he used to secretly love the Power Rangers when he was younger. But I didn't want to be petty and take it back to hide, even though I refused to help her with her relationship anymore.

She came back home on the day of the party from the mall with a few bags in her hand so I assume she added to his gift.

"What, um, what are you wearing?" she asks me, peeking into my room.

"I bought a dress yesterday."

"Oh, nice, can I see it?"

I glare at her and she sighs heavily, "I'm sorry Aria, okay? The things I said were awful and I feel terrible. I know you've done a lot for me and I shouldn't have yelled at you. Please forgive me."

I watch her pleading face closely before nodding and smiling softly. "I forgive you."

I don't bother telling her how I really felt—like what she accused me of was completely unfair because I was in love with Harry and that made it harder for me to watch their relationship blossom.

That's just something that would create unnecessary drama and I didn't need that right now. Besides, I wanted my best friend back.

A few hours later I was in my underwear with my hair perfectly styled and makeup applied. I scramble to find my heels then slip into them after putting my dress on. It was a black, floor length dress with a halter top.

I step out of the room at the same time Julia does in her elegant, deep red, off the shoulder dress. We exchange excited looks and grab our last minute things before meeting Liam downstairs. He offered to drive us there and back so we can drink as we please.

The house he drops us off in front of is huge. It's quite literally a mansion and I have no idea how much it would have cost Mr. Styles to rent it. Liam helps Julia out of the car while I get out on my own, looking around in awe. It's quite early in the evening, the sun just setting. Everyone around us is old. Most are old men with beautiful young women attached to their arms. I gawk at a few of the ladies wondering how it's possibly to look so hot and walk so gracefully.

Feeling utterly shy in this sea of the rich and elite, I follow Julia inside, not moving an inch away from her until one of her father's business partners and close family friend spots her. She smiles widely and scurries to talk to him and his kind-looking wife, while I'm left on my own.

I look around the hall I'm in. It literally looks straight out of a movie. Everyone is dressed extravagantly, there's servers in uniforms handing out Champaign flutes and some coming around with hors d'oeuvres. A string quartet plays mellow music in the background. I hold my clutch tightly in my hand and look around. Fuck, not only did Harry's family look rich but they looked powerful. With all the people here just for his birthday. I was positive Harry didn't know nor care about more than half of these people, so I assumed most were here because of Mr. Styles. And he probably encouraged a lot of people to come to make it an even bigger event for Harry.

I don't want to look stupid, so I start walking around aimlessly, hoping Julia finds me soon and tells me what the hell I'm supposed to do here until ten o'clock when the rest of my friends come. I say sorry, nearly bumping into an old couple. The lady alone looked like she was wearing my entire college tuition.

"Oh, sorry," I apologize again to another woman I bump into near the grand staircase. She had blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes.

"Don't worry, hun, are you a friend of Harry's?" she asks with an Australian accent, smiling at me. Surprised that one of these people actually want to talk to me, I gape at her.

"Uh, yeah, you know him?" I stammer before slapping a palm to my forehead. Of course she knows Harry, this is his birthday party.

The woman laughs.

"Yeah, I'm actually engaged to marry his father. My name is Elizabeth," she stretches her hand out.

"Oh! I know you! He's told me about you," I say shaking her hand. Her eyebrow dips in confusion.

"He did? Oh and sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Oh I'm so sorry," I flush realizing I completely forgot my manners. "My name is Aria."

Her face lights up. "Aria, huh? I know you, too! Harry's told us quite a lot about you."

"Really?" I ask in shock. Before I can ask her exactly what Harry said about me, a man walks up behind Elizabeth and puts a hand on her waist.

"Hello, love," he says to her, kissing her temple. His facial structure and those unmistakable green eyes give away his identity immediately. This was Harry's father. I start sweating and wondering why I was meeting Harry's family without Harry himself around.

"You'll never guess who I just met," Elizabeth says to Mr. Styles, her laugh sounding like a song. Mr. Styles pins me under his gaze, as if trying to figure out who I am. "This is Harry's friend, Aria."

His eyebrows shoot up.

"Aria, the artist?" he asks me, joyfully. I blink and gulp.

"Um, yes, sir, that would be me," I croak. I stick my hand out, not sure if I'm meant to shake his hand. He does, and laughs.

"About time we meet. Harry's been going on about you non-stop."

The fact that Harry speaks to his father and Elizabeth so much more than I thought almost surprises me as much as him talking about me.

"Has he, now?" I say tightly, still smiling.

"Oh, don't worry, it's all good things. Says you got him interested in art and art history," Mr. Styles shares.

"Right, yes. We do have our art history lecture together," I tell him.

"Are you keeping him in line, is he being a good student?" he inquires with his eyes narrowed. His face looks serious but his stance shows that he's joking about being strict.

"Believe it or not, it's actually him that's preventing me from slacking," I chuckle. They laugh and I start to feel at ease.

Elizabeth and Mr. Styles are a very easy-going and relaxed couple. I'm enjoying talking to them and listening to their anecdotes, when hisses and grumbling sound from above me. I tilt my head and look up to see Harry walking down the stairs, slapping away a pair of touchy hands that belong to a beautiful brunette.

"You look ridiculous, Harry! Button it up," she hisses at him.

"Leave me alone, Gem, it's my birthday I can do whatever I want," he retorts angrily before turning his head and meeting my gaze. His eyes widen and sweep me up and down before flicking behind me to his father and Elizabeth. He gulps and then smiles widely, jogging down quickly.

I struggle to regulate my breathing as he pins me with a stare. He's in a simple black suit and black dress shirt that's unbuttoned halfway like usual. His hair is swept back elegantly, with a few curls hanging down.

"Aria," he greets, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me forward to kiss my temple. "Thanks for coming," he grins and I feel lightheaded from how amazing his cologne smells. I'm shaken at how affectionate and touchy he's being. His hand lingers a touch longer than appropriate on my waist before he slides it away.

"Oh, um, no problem. Happy birthday," I tell him. He smirks.

"Thanks, you look absolutely beautiful," he boasts. My face burns, actually my entire body feels hot as I'm aware of Harry, his father, Elizabeth and his sister watching me get flustered with small smiles on their faces.

"You look good, too," I squeak. This makes them all laugh and I feel even more embarrassed. Harry chuckles and wraps his arm around my shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly. For a few seconds I can pretend like we're together and this is me formally meeting his family. He feels so good pressed next to me. We look so good. Everything is so good.

Harry drops his arm after a minute, awkwardly tucking it into his pants and I'm properly introduced to his sister. His father drags Harry away to meet some of his colleagues while I'm left with Gemma and Elizabeth.

We chat amongst ourselves a bit and I'm very relieved to learn neither of them are snobbish or condescending. They're very polite and inclusive in their conversation, Gemma being particularly funny. I don't notice a presence behind me until Elizabeth looks over my shoulder and her eyes light up again.

I look back to see Julia walking towards me with a smile. "I'm so sorry I left you, Aria, I didn't mean to—"

"Hey, it's okay! Don't worry about it," I assure her. She smiles in relief before greeting Elizabeth.

"Hey, it's so nice to see you, again!"

"You as well," Elizabeth responds. "Oh, um, this is Gemma, by the way. I don't believe you two met." Julia and Gemma shake hands and say a polite hello to each other. Gemma sends a questioning glance to Elizabeth. "Julia is Harry's girlfriend," she supplies.

Shock fills Gemma's face. "Oh! I thought—um," she looks at me slightly surprised with her finger about to point at me before she drops it and settles for smiling widely at Julia. I clear my throat and look down, but sneak a peek at Julia's face.

She noticed.

Elizabeth smoothly changes the subject and we all talk about something else. Julia chats with Gemma while Elizabeth and I make awkward eye contact, the tension still palpable. She gives me a small smile and blinks with both her eyes to assure me everything okay and I feel grateful for this woman. Still, I decide to remove myself from the conversation so Julia can get to know Gemma without feeling threatened by me or something.

"I see the refreshments table, I think I'm gonna go check it out," I announce. Julia beams at me in relief and nods, encouraging me to go before turning back to Gemma. I try not let my hurt show on my face as the only person I know here other than the birthday boy himself, is casting me away.

I walk over to the refreshments table, taking in the various treats. There's a lot of fancy food that I don't understand and in fear of eating something I won't like, I go with the safest option. It looks like some type of mini tart filled with tomato and what looks like mushroom. I reach out for it when a voice whispers behind me.

"I wouldn't eat that," Harry startles me. I jump nearly a foot in the air and clutch a hand to my heart as he laughs. "See that black thing in there? That's snail."

I pucker my face in disgust and turn away from it. Harry puts a gentle hand on my elbow and leads me away from the snail. He picks up various hors d'oeuvres and hands me one of each to try. We snack on the fancy food, that I must admit is really good. He shoves a puff pastry pesto chicken bite in my mouth before grabbing my hand and leading me down the table to the desserts. We basically ate an entire meal of just "bites".

Harry picks up one of the mini tarts that's decorated beautifully and brings up to my mouth. I take a small bite, but don't like the almond flavor so I shake my head at him. Harry shrugs and sticks his tongue out to shove it in his mouth before the cream drips.

"Thank God you guys came early," Harry says, grabbing a pink macaron. "I would have been so bored with all these old people."

Just as I open my mouth to respond, a loud boisterous laugh sounds behind us.

"Harry, my boy! There he is!"

Harry and I turn around to face yet another old man with a leggy woman at his side. Harry smiles at the man and swallows his macaron.

"Mr. Fields, how are you?" he asks politely, shaking his hand.

"It's Geoffrey to you now! You're a grown man!" Harry laughs politely in response. "Haven't seen you since before your mum—well..." he drifts off and Harry smiles awkwardly.

Scared shitless, I step forward and discreetly clutch his fingers between my own. Rubbing my thumb over his knuckles. He squeezes my fingers back.

"And who's this?" the man turns his beady eyes to me, his thick moustache crinkles as he smiles.

My eyes widen but thankfully another man appears. This one looks younger than Mr. Fields, about in his late thirties, and like he's more considerate.

"Harry, how are you, son? Hope ol' Geoff isn't bothering you too much," the man says. The two men banter back and forth while Harry smiles politely. Apparently the other man's name is Jordan.

The leggy blonde attached to Mr. Fields whispers something in his ear, and he politely excuses himself before they go, leaving us alone with this Jordan guy.

"Well, who's this?" he asks Harry excitedly, nodding at me. I tense up again.

"Oh, uh, this is my friend, Aria Collins," Harry replies. Our fingers slip from each other's before Jordan makes any assumptions. "She's a classmate of mine at university."

Jordan nods appreciatively before discussing profs and classes with Harry. Apparently him and many other successful business men graduated from our business program. He recalls his uni days while I blend in the background. I debate excusing myself to leave them alone, taking a careful step away from Harry but his hand reaches out and wraps itself around my wrist. The action is very subtle and he doesn't look away from Jordan at all. I stay rooted in my spot beside Harry.

"Wonderful, wonderful," he praises Harry, after discussing his classes and how well he's doing. "And how about yourself?" he looks at me. "Do you study business as well?"

I freeze, thinking maybe Harry will answer for me, but Harry just looks at me with a smile on his face.

"Um, no, I'm in the Fine Arts program," I tell him.

"Wow!"

"Aria is a really talented artist," Harry supplies. My face turns red and I whip my head to look at him. He ignores the stares I send him, "She'll tell you she's not that good, but her work is really amazing. And she's very knowledgeable in her field."

"Really?" Jordan grins at me. "I don't know many artists, this is quite refreshing."

Feeling a little better about myself, I give him a small smile.

"So do you paint... or..." Jordan waves his hands.

"She can so much more than painting. She can do things I never knew could be done," Harry sneaks in, smirking. I nudge him and chuckle.

"I like to use various media, yes. I can paint, however I prefer watercoloring. And, um, lately, I've been interested in calligraphy and sculptures," I share. Jordan hangs to every word I say.

I quickly learn that Jordan knows about as much about art as Harry did when we started talking. So I fill him on definitions and techniques that I know. I throw in my opinion here and there, not even noticing that I pulled my hand away from Harry's.

Jordan is a very nice man and good listener. He isn't afraid to admit when he doesn't know what something means, which is very refreshing after being used to talking to people who want to seem like they know everything. Harry's father comes to join the conversation for a few minutes before whisking him away again.

I bite my lip nervously as Harry gives me an apologetic look. Not sure what to do now, I wring my hands together when Jordan speaks up again.

"Sorry, can you tell me more about this DIY movement?" he asks.

I happily dive back into conversation and tell him about hacking and do-it-yourself art.

Jordan and I chat until Mr. Styles announces its time for the birthday ceremony. He stands with Harry at a table in the front that has a giant four-tier cake and the rest of their family. I spot Julia close-by beside them. All of the guests including me watch as Gemma laughs and snaps a birthday party hat on Harry's head. Harry glares at her playfully and laughs too, not taking it off. The string quartet start playing the opening of "Happy Birthday" while the whole rooms sing it for Harry.

Harry is grinning wide and looking between his father, sister and all the people here for him. I'm so happy for him, I actually start tearing up.

"Make a wish, make a wish!" I can hear Gemma yelling. Harry closes his eyes to make his wish, before blowing all his candles out.

Elizabeth expertly pops a champagne bottle as Mr. Styles laughs. He ruffles the back of Harry's hair then pulls him in for a hug and presses a kiss to his head. My heart swells to see the affection between father and son and I just know Harry is getting emotional and happy too. He's too far for me to see, but he pulls away from his dad and smiles at him genuinely before turning to hug Gemma too (who pretends like she doesn't want him too, but "reluctantly" returns the embrace). There's another man beside Gemma that he hugs too. I didn't meet him but judging by how close he stands to Gemma, it's probably her fiancée.

Harry turns back over to his father's side and stretches his arms out to hug Elizabeth, too. She seems surprised but allows herself to be pulled in. Mr. Styles' smile matches my own as we gaze at Harry proudly.

I excuse myself and say my goodbye to Jordan before walking to Julia to stand next to her.

"That was amazing, wasn't it?" I say to her. She looks at me in surprise and smiles.

"Yeah, it was cute."

"I'm proud of him," I admit to her.

"Why? He just turned twenty-one," she chuckles. I glance at her in confusion before realizing that she doesn't understand Harry's family situation. I figured she would when she went to that dinner, but I guess not.

The cake gets cut and a few servers pass around slices to each guest. Julia and I devour ours in second, gushing about how delicious it is. Harry's father's guests start leaving at ten, as promised, but they don't all filter out fully until it's eleven. I saw some staff members carrying wrapped presents to back room (which Harry sneaked off to for a bit).

Julia and I can't help but talk about pretty outfits we've seen. She was telling me about some designer brand dress she saw a woman wearing when I spot Harry coming towards us.

"My family is leaving now, they just wanted to say bye," he tells us. I stay back while Julia goes ahead, not wanting to impose but Harry shakes his head at me and pulls my arm. "You, too!"

Julia is just finishing up saying her goodbyes when I arrive. I end up talking a little more with Elizabeth and Gemma (and meeting Gemma's fiancée, Michal).

"We need to see you again, and next time I want to see some of your art," Mr, Styles tells me. I laugh nervously while the others chuckle.

"Sure, but I'm going to admit they're not that great..." I reply. Instantly, Harry loudly yells, "Nonsense!" and we all laugh again.

They get into their respective cars and drive away. I follow Julia and Harry back inside. We go to the drinks table to get some alcohol before the real party starts. Julia loops her arm through Harry's as he leads us downstairs to a different room. It's darker here with party lights on. The music turns up as we scope the place. Already there are some of Harry's friends in there. Harry goes up to them and they gush about the extravagance of this place. I find the drinks table in this room and down another one.

Niall, Louis and Eleanor arrive with Zayn. Harry greats them enthusiastically, he narrows his eyes at Zayn but then laughs and pulls him in for a hug too. He's definitely had a lot to drink if he's being friendly with Zayn. I make eye contact with Zayn and widen my eyes at him in surprise, he shrugs back confused before making his way over.

"Shelley!" Julia screams in excitement beside me. I whip my head around to see Shelley and her girls coming towards us. She hugs Julia tightly. I can see they've gotten much closer than I remember them being. "Oh, bitch, is this that Viktor & Rolf perfume you were talking about?!" she exclaims, leaning in to sniff it again.

"Yes, oh my God, I'm obsessed with it!" Shelley shrieks. I roll my eyes and her gaze lands on me. "Oh, hey, Aria."

"Hey," I smile sweetly, inwardly cringing. She stretches her arms out and I go forward to hug her as well. I nearly choke at the crazy amount of perfume she put on, the overly rosy scent almost killing me. "Wow," I cough. "That is a really strong perfume."

"Do you want some? I have it with me," she offers.

"No, thank you," I pull back and go to stand next to Zayn who is shamelessly eyeing Shelley. I sigh and decide to introduce them. Just because I hate her doesn't mean Zayn should too. "Shelley, have you met my friend Zayn? Zayn, this is Shelley."

Shelley gazes at him hungrily. I turn to Julia who is deep in conversation with the other two girls. Deciding to go somewhere else before I become allergic to Shelley's Viktor & Rolf perfume, I head to the bar.

The bartender winks at me and holds his finger up before I can order.

"I think I know something you would like," he says in a deep voice. Smiling, I let him make a drink for me. He makes a mix of a bunch of drinks in a way I've never seen before. Adding fruity flavours before serving me a pink drink in a sangria cup. I take a sip of it, instantly loving it.

"Damn, you're good!" I say to him. He smirks and nods humbly. This drink it too good. Feeling a little woozy from the drink, I decide to tip him by kissing the bill so it has my lipstick on it before handing it to him. He chuckles and pockets it with a thank you.

I venture into the crowd, happy with a delicious drink and bump into Niall.

"Niall, that bartender is so good," I say to him. "He made a drink that's exactly what I like without me even saying anything!"

I drag Niall along with me and force him to get a drink. The bartender is just as flirty with him as he was with me, making Niall blush a little. He hands Niall a teal drink that he loves and we drunkenly try to find Louis to convince him to go too.

"Louis, Louis!" I call out to the brunette, before noticing my Irish companion is no longer with me. "Niall!" I look around for, spinning in a complete circle before bumping into Harry. "Harry!"

"You said a lot of names," Harry notes. I gulp and begin telling him about the bartender, urging him to come get a drink too.

"Wait!" I shout suddenly. "Let's do some shots!"

I pull Harry's arm and drag him towards the bar. "Niall!" I shout, finding him again. "Shots!" Niall nods and tries to coax Louis and Eleanor into joining us but they refuse.

When the three of us get to the bar, we find Julia, Shelley and Zayn there already.

"Jules! Ready for some shots?"

She grins excitedly before turning to Shelley who puckers her face and shakes her head in disgust. Julia's grin fades but Harry is quick to cheer her up.

"Yeah, let's do shots, baby! I want to do shots!" This is enough to convince Julia. I go to line up in front of the bar when someone tugs me towards a table that already has shot cups set up. The four of us crowd around the table and I don't notice people cheering us on. The birthday boy is with us so they all gather around to watch.

Someone counts us down and we start taking our shots. Julia is the first to tap out after a few. Harry holds out for a while he stops next (disappointing a lot of people). This leaves just Niall and I. I don't know how much I've taken but I see the speed in which Niall is downing his shots and know I can't keep up.

I slam my cup down and shake my head, backing away from the table. Niall cheers and gets hailed like a king while I stumble back to the bar. The cute bartender hands me a large cup of water. I know I'll need this so I drink a bit of it, but he forces me to take more. I drink more than half, before walking away on wobbly legs.

"Where's the b-bathroom, please," I ask one of the staff members dressed in a uniform. He points towards the bathrooms and I go that way.

"Aria?" Harry asks as he stumbles out of the men's room. "Are you okay?"

I trip over my feet and fall but he catches me in his arms. I grin up at his adorable, concerned face.

"You're cute," I say booping his nose. Harry's eyes widen and I giggle. "I-I need to use the bathroom..." I struggle to stand straight with his arms still around me and he helps me, unsteadily guiding me to the bathroom door. "Wait!" I shout, startling him.

"W-what is it?" he rasps.

"You can't go in here... it's the ladies room..."

"Oh, right," he looks around for a solution before saying, "I can just wait here."

"You don't have to wait," I slur. "S'okay. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go have fun with Julia..."

Harry looks at me unsurely before nodding. I step into the bathroom and come face to face with Shelley of all people. She reapplies her lipstick before looking at me.

"What are you looking at?" she scoffs.

"You...?"

"Well, stop."

"You know if you're gonna be rude to me I can un-set you up with Zayn."

Shelley looks at me in annoyance but doesn't say anything.

I push my way into a stall and lock the door to relieve myself. My bladder is extremely full. I think I won't be drinking anymore today.

After I leave and wash my hands, I hurry out of the bathroom before Shelley's perfume takes me out like mustard gas. Harry is no longer outside, not that I expected him to be. I expect him to be back at the party with Julia.

Feeling way better than I did a few minutes ago, I'm able to at least walk properly back to the party. I dance with some girls I recognize who invite me into their group. They seem nice and I'm happy we're all drunk enough to have the courage to do this. Maybe when we're sober we'll all remember this and hang out.

Niall comes up and introduces me to a girl he just met, I chat with her and she seems really cool so I discreetly slip in completely fake facts about Niall to get her interested in him. About ten minutes later she isn't paying attention to me because she's making heart eyes at Niall so much. I leave them be and happily wander around.

Louis and Eleanor are by the dessert table, sharing a snack. I watch Louis tease Eleanor as she sits in his lap, giggling. I frown at the cute couple and continue on. Zayn has his lips locked with Shelley as they dance together. This makes my frown deepen. Determined to get away from all my friends because they all have better love lives then me, I go deeper into the crowd to dance. Except, my eyes land on Julia as she grinds back on Harry before straightening up and looking at him strangely. I look up and see his gaze is focused on me. Feeling nervous, I turn away and move before Julia notices.

He'll never be mine.

Going straight to the bar, I order another one of the pink drinks the bartender made me. I thank him again for it and take a sip as I exit the party room. Shakily, I make my way up the stairs. The bright light hurts my eyes, its weird knowing I was here just a couple hours ago. I look around the giant hall all the guests were in when Harry cut his cake.

I mumble and step around the crew cleaning the area up to head up the other set of stairs on the other side of the room. The steps are covered in a red carpet, prevent me from slipping. I make it up the stairs and check out this new floor. Everything from the doors to the furniture is fancy in here. I see a door at the end and push into the room. It's a huge bedroom. Nothing in it to suggest someone lives there but there is a bed. I walk over and sit on the edge of the bed. The moonlight filters in from the open window, illuminating the room in a soft glow. The curtains billow as I fall back on the bed and let my eyes close.

I fall into a dreamless sleep before stirring awake at the sound of noise. Someone opens the door loudly and stumbles in. I lay paralyzed in fear until I heard the intruder speak.

"Aria."

"Harry?" I question sitting up. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"N-needed some timmme away from... the-the party," Harry mumbles. He looks like he's had a lot more to drink. I stand up and take in his disheveled appearance.

"Jesus, how much did you drink after I left?" he didn't seem this drunk before. I help Harry stand straight under the moonlight so I can see his face. His cheeks are tinted pink and I hold his face to keep him still so I can look at him. His pupils are extremely dilated. "Are you alright?"

"Mmmhmm," he hums. "Better now," he rasps, his eyes raking my face.

"What happened?"

"N-nothing... It just got... t-too loud and I wanted to be alone a little. Came up here and saw... you."

"Oh," I whisper in response. I pull my hands off his face slowly when he closes his eyes but his hands immediately reach up to grasp mine. His fingers splay over my smaller hands and hold them on his face. My heart beats a mile minute as I take in our closer distance. Harry steps even closer, so our chests touch.

"Thank you for your present," he says lowly. "I loved it, it was perfect," he smiles with his eyes closed.

My mind struggles to think of what he's talking about because he's so close to me.

"Oh," I say suddenly, remembering my gift.

The first time he ever saw me cry when he barged into my room, I tore up my ballerina cardboard model. I remember him trying to put the pieces back together to fix it, which made me love him more. Reminiscent of that, I built a nicer deer head one, a homage to the deer sculpture he helped me build. Hopefully he understands the implication and memory that go with it.

I framed my three calligraphy prints that I dropped that one time I bumped into him and Niall, too. 'No legacy is so rich as honesty', 'If music be the food of love, then play on' and 'You have witchcraft in your lips'. He had asked me if he could keep the last one, I said no and hurriedly grabbed it to go hand them in. But since I don't need them anymore, I framed all three for him. Along with a lengthy card explaining how grateful I am that we're friends and apologizing for trying so hard to push him away those first two years (and thanking him for giving me a chance, regardless).

My gift box was huge anyway (Liam said he didn't mind carrying it inside, but I can tell he was wondering what was in it), so I put in a small jar of my brownies as well.

"Um, you're welcome, I'm glad you liked them," I whisper, gulping.

"And thank you for the Power Rangers mug, it's cute," he chuckles. I frown.

"Oh, no, uh that was part of Julia's gift," I explain.

"Julia doesn't know I used to love the Power Rangers. I never told her," he says. My blood freezes. Oh shit. I didn't know that.

"M-maybe she did? You know she's really intuitive sometimes," I make up.

Harry chuckles again. "If she was that intuitive she wouldn't have gotten me socks for my twenty-first birthday."

I inwardly groan. What the fuck was she thinking?

Harry sucks in his bottom lip and opens his eyes, looking directly at me.

"You know... sometimes..." He releases his bottom lip, much pinker than it was before, and I find I can't look away from it. Harry's hands slide off mine to cup my face. Our foreheads touch and there isn't a single thought in my head that isn't Harry, Harry, Harry.

His touch, his scent, his pink lips, his hooded eyes... it's all so intoxicating and I want to get drunk off of it.

"Sometimes... what?" I drawl out slowly. My mind is all foggy and I feel lightheaded from his proximity.

"Sometimes I wonder..." Harry continues quietly, leaning in impossibly closer. "... what if it was you?" he asks in a small voice.

I conceal a small cry, "What?"

"Sometimes I wish it was you... not her..." his lips ghost over mine and I feel my body freeze up. He pulls away a little to look at me before pulling my face closer to his. He tilts his head as he leans in and I want to laugh and cry with how happy I am that this is finally happening again.

The next second is filled with deafening silence before everything goes wrong. For a quick second my eyes flit behind Harry to catch sight of a dark figure. My eyes widen but the person had already turned and left.

Before Harry's lips can touch mine, I push him away.

"Shit, Harry—we can't!" I say into my hands. A sob forces its way through me but as I try to collect myself. I secure my purse over my shoulder, sparing Harry one glance. He looks at the wall behind me, stunned. "I'm sorry," I don't know what I'm apologizing for exactly, but I quickly spit that out before heading for the door.

As I leave, a scent makes my blood run cold.

The distinct smell of a Viktor & Rolf perfume.

***

Sooooooooo... what did we think? SLKFJSDLF 

Some questions:

1. What did you think of Aria and Julia's fight?

2. What would you do if you were in Julia's position/how do you think you'd feel?

3. How do you think Harry/Aria is going to deal with the 'almost kiss'?

4. Should Aria tell Julia about it?

Thank you so much for reading and all your lovely comments <3

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[crimsonbluemoon]

H2O Vanoss: Merman

Final one! Okay, so this is my OTP and this idea actually was my LEAST favorite at first, but now? Now I love it. ugh, I’m a mess. Please enjoy this monster of a HeadCanon! ^.^

H2OVanoss Merman

Basis: Evan is a merman prince of an undersea kingdom, Del is a struggling artist who is in desperate need of a beach vacation according to his friend Luke.

IDEAS (...Basically just a story)

The story starts when Evan is about to assume the reign of his kingdom, as a sign of his coming of age on his 25th birthday. During the banquet just before the coronation, one of his advisors gives him a drink poisoned with human blood, known to mermaid’s as “The Loner’s Curse.” 

The poison weakens him to be stronger than humans but weaker than mermaids, and also turns him human. The advisor and some of his henchman subdue him and end up stranding Evan on shore, tying him to a post so he’ll drown when the tide comes in.

Instead, Delirious finds him while finding a morning surf shore that he and Luke had taken for the summer while Luke took over his uncle’s beach house and surf shop (with Delirious assisting him.) Evan is almost drowning when Delirious spots him, so once Delirious unties him he’s stuck dragging an unconscious Evan back to the beach house, where Luke and Del get him cleaned up. 

Luke berates Del about not dragging dead people into the house again as they’re doing this.

When Evan wakes up, he’s stuck as a human and has to find a way to reverse the poison that’s still in his system and get back to his kingdom and save it. He keeps track of the poison by looking at his veins in the moonlight, and where his veins glow is where the poison has reached. 

If the poison reaches his heart, he’ll literally drown in human blood and die. Thankfully, he has Delirious to help him, and Luke when he’s not managing the shop.

Not that any of them have ANY idea what they’re doing.

In the process of searching for a cure, there’s really cute moments! Evan hates being human (walking, the increased metabolism/need for sleep, basically everything to do with a human body) until he eats pizza for the first time. He’s literally addicted to the pizza from Panda’s Pizza Parlor, which has the best pizza on the coast. 

He also likes Panda, who can always tell exactly what kind of pizza he wants with a single glance (he does this with all his customers, and gives Evan an anchovy special each time he walks in, heavy on the fish.) 

Delirious absolutely refuses to try it, no matter how much Evan tries to get him to eat it (“They’ve still got their eyes, Evan! I can’t eat no fish eyes, they’re still looking at me an- and making me feel bad!”)

Evan is NOT used to wearing clothes and keeps “losing” them. The number of times that Delirious has turned around to/walking in on/returned to a shirtless or entirely naked Evan most definitely contributes to his attraction to the merman prince and his extreme embarrassment. 

Evan only really likes this one shark tooth necklace that Delirious bought for Evan, as it helps him to comfort him when there are too many people around.

Evan can’t be left alone in the house because he breaks SO MUCH STUFF. Luke has had to replace most minor appliances and is very tempted to “take a gutting knife to the damn fish already and have some peace again.”

Fire at the beach: Del teaches Vanoss how to dance for the first time, super intimate and romantic. 

Girls flirting with Evan at the surf shop annoys Delirious to the point of “accidentally” knocking a soda onto the girls and making them leave.

Luke is torn between snickering and groaning at the loss of profit

Del comes into Evan’s room in the middle of night because he’s crying in pain from the poison

This starts the tradition of then sleeping next to each other every night (despite Luke teasing Del every morning)

Del asks Evan about merepeople’s sexuality and kinda discovers Evan’s into men over women

Del teaches Evan how to surf (and fails miserably). 

They almost kiss for the first time before a wave pushes them away from each other and ruins the moment

Evan stumbles in on Delirious trying to draw in the window seat of the beach house, but from the crumpled up drawings and broken pencils, it’s obvious he’s not having any luck. Evan doesn’t know the first thing about art, but he likes to watch Delirious draw, and is genuinely interested in how he makes drawings and why he chooses certain styles or lines for parts of the picture. 

Del is a bit nervous talking about it at first, but as he answers Evan’s questions, he relaxes. By the time the questions are done, Del’s drawn a picture without even really realizing what he was doing. 

It ends up being a picture of Evan from the waist up, and Delirious ends up asking about what Evan looks like as a mermaid (the color of his scales, his tail length, etc). He draws Evan’s full form from the answers, and Evan is bittersweet looking at the picture of what he may never be again. But he asks if he can keep the picture, which Del lets him, worried when Evan leaves the room that he’s made a mistake drawing it.

One day when Evan is suuuuper stressed after a lead on the cure goes bust (their informant cancels on them), Delirious takes him to a carnival to cheer up. Evan’s instantly taken in by the sounds and colors, which nearly overwhelm him until Delirious grabs his hand and shows him how fun everything can be. 

Evan decides that cotton candy is the absolute best, candy apples are from hell (“Delirious, get this stupid thing off my face!” as the caramel adheres to his cheek), and he’s NOT a fan of heights. But he’s watched a lot of romantic movies with Luke over the past two weeks, and he knows that Ferris wheels are a romantic thing that people do. And he’s… kinda into Delirious, so he wants to go on it despite his fear of heights, insisting that his shaking knees and sweaty palms are from the poison (“Evan, that doesn’t make me feel better!”) 

Delirious pretends that he’s scared of heights to keep Evan from going on it, and they end up going on one of those little helicopter rides instead that go up and down in a circle, and Evan absolutely loves it.

When they get back home, Evan is left alone with Luke while Delirious grabs all the prizes they won from Evan being OP at carnival games. Luke asks if Delirious “made a move on you” on the Ferris wheel, as it’s his favorite ride. This leaves Evan confused, telling Luke that he was scared of it, but the Southerner is stubborn in his insistence that the wheel is his favorite “fucking stupid ride.” 

When Delirious comes back, he confesses that he does love the Ferris wheel, but also says that the carnival was supposed to be for Evan, to make him feel better, and Delirious would rather have fun with Evan than make him go on a ride he’s terrified of.

Essentially, it’s their first date, and it goes very, very well.

Luke: “Man, if all I had to do was convince you it was a date to stay off that ride, we’d be on our tenth anniversary by now!” and that’s what makes them realize it’s a date

However, there’s still angst… because now they realize that even if they can cure Evan, he’ll turn back into a mermaid and have to choose between his kingdom and Delirious. 

Evan starts to pull away from Delirious as a result of this realization, not wanting to hurt him with his eventual departure. He can feel his soul missing Delirious, though. 

He ends up in this mental limbo over the choice between Delirious and his duty to his kingdom, and ends up stumbling across this tiny aquarium on the edge of town.

Evan finds comfort in the small aquarium’s ocean window, and he ends up going there often when he’s overwhelmed or down on himself over the course of the summer.

And eventually, it’s his last night alive, as he hasn’t found a cure.

Evan goes there on his last night alive, as he doesn’t want to die in front of Delirious or the ocean. 

He leaves a note explaining that he’s grateful to Delirious for everything he did. It’s a sweet goodbye, ending it with a wish that he could have told Delirious “how he felt.” He doesn’t think he’s ever going to have a chance to explain it.

He writes this note on the back of the drawing Del did for him, adding his own little mess of a doodle of Del swimming next to him as a merman.

It’s dark in the aquarium, as it’s closing time, and moonlight is streaming through the window where he’s sitting and his whole body save his upper chest lights up. The owner ends up sitting next to him, a man named Brian.

“I should have known you’re just like me. Focking’ Christ.” And then Brian leans over the table and kisses Evan.

Delirious runs in screaming for Evan, panicking over the note he found, to the sight of a very panicked and breathless Evan yanking free of Brian’s kiss, and he’s rightfully infuriated and confused at the both of them for everything that’s happening.

Brian reveals that he used to be a merman, but was poisoned on accident while trying to save a “kid” who fell over the edge of his father’s fishing boat and scratched up his hands trying to climb up. 

Brian ended up swallowing some of his blood and was turned into a human, but was saved by the guy’s father. 

Brian knows enough about mermaids to know that the cure to The Loner’s Curse is to “share air” with either a human or a mermaid, turning the afflicted into whichever species kisses them until they go into/leave the water. And the stronger the bond of affection between the two, the longer the curse will be gone for- but only true love’s kiss can truly “cure” it. So Brian bought Evan time, but can’t cure him.

Cue a frantic Delirious begging Evan to not die and not accept this. In his panic, Delirious asks Evan to kiss him, recounting their dates and intimate moments as reasons why it would work. Evan is scared to die, but is more terrified of kissing Delirious- because it’s a double-edged sword. 

If he kisses Delirious and goes to the water and becomes a merman, then he’ll have to leave Delirious behind forever. But if he doesn’t turn into a merman, it’ll mean Delirious doesn’t love him, and he’ll lose him anyways when he dies of the uncured curse. 

So Evan, almost-coronated prince of the undersea kingdom, does the mature thing and runs away. Again.

Delirious follows him to the beach, tackling him to the sand before he can reach the water. He’s crying, upset and in love with this stupid dying mer-prince, and when Evan tries to get away Delirious screams that he’s “in love with you, and I have to do this even though it’s gonna kill me to let you go. Cuz it’ll make you happy, and all I’ve ever wanted is that you’re happy!” 

And when Evan is too stunned to reply, Delirious kisses him.

As they kiss, Evan’s whole body glows in the moonlight, the poisonous curse fading from his body. They break apart to breathe, but just as they go to kiss again the first wave washes over Evan’s body as the tide rises, and he starts to turn back into a merman in Delirious’s arms. 

Evan starts to tell Delirious he loves him as well, but Delirious cuts him off, inconsolable as he realizes he can’t love Evan and have him. As he starts to walk away, Evan realizes Delirious looks like how he did when he first tried walking (wobbly and shaken), and also that this is the first time Delirious has ever really broken down in front of him.

Evan tries to call him back, but Delirious says that he’s got a kingdom to save, “and I’ve got another purpose to find.” 

And then Delirious is running away down the beach, along the shoreline towards his house, and Evan is frantically swimming after him through the shallows trying to get him to come back. 

The jetty wall stops him from following, and Delirious gives him one last look of love and pain before running back into his house and leaving Evan alone in the water.

Realizing that there’s nothing he can do, Evan goes back and saves his kingdom. It’s the least he owes Delirious and their lost love. He wins, but he’s still heartbroken.

Every day for a month, he goes to the beach to see if Delirious is there, but the man never appears. 

Luke does show up, though, and absolutely rips into Evan for hurting Delirious and breaking his heart. He tells Evan how Delirious won’t surf, won’t go out, won’t even draw anything, and that “I hope your goddamn kingdom was worth it.” He tells Evan to never come back so Delirious will “find someone who can stand on his own two fucking legs and who won’t run away.”

Evan decides he’s gonna break into Brian’s aquarium, following the half-wild fish in through the pipes and scaring the absolute fuck out of Brian one night. He begs Brian to tell him how he’s still alive, as he’s seen Brian go in deep water and not turn back into a mermaid. 

Brian tells him that the secret is to kiss the person whose blood he accidentally consumed (Evan yells at him for kissing a kid, but really the kid was a young adult whose father called him “kid” as long as Brian knew him. Brian and Brock are now happily married and Brian still teasingly calls him “kid” because his dad joked at their wedding that “the kid fell head over heels” for Brian.)

Which means that he has to drink Delirious’s blood and then kiss him and they can be happy! 

The only problem is convincing Delirious to do that, which is where Brian, always a sucker for a happy ending and NOT having mermaids in his aquarium, offers his services of sticking Evan into a tank with a tarp on top and driving over to Delirious’s house.

Brock walks in on Brian putting the tarp over the tank, takes two seconds to look at Brian’s guilty face and Evan’s panicked eyes, and just takes a sip of his coffee before saying “Babe, I’m not gonna ask any questions so long as you buy me clams tonight” and walking away. 

Brian mumbles “jokes on him, clams always makes the sex better later” and Evan’s like “please just drive me to Delirious and never talk to me about your sex life again.”

They drive to the house, and while Brian’s trying to pull Evan into the pool Luke walks out and gets suuuuuuuuper pissed at Evan for coming back. 

Brian’s like “you like him?” and Evan’s all “no no I like the guy who showed up last time!” (“Who’s this, then, his new boyfriend?” “I’m his best friend, you dipshit!”) and it’s all a mess that ends up waking Delirious up.

When he comes outside and sees Evan and is absolutely flabbergasted and excited and very, very cautious. Evan, being the great person he is with words, asks Delirious if he can have some blood and then kiss him (“What the fuck, Evan?” “So I can live with you!”) And Luke is like, super done and tells him to fuck off and not to use “my best friend- whose heart you broke by the way- as a fucking sacrifice for your bullshit mermaid things!” 

But when he tries to drag Delirious inside after telling Brian to go give him to Panda so he can be on one of those pizzas he liked so much, Delirious blurts out “why are you still wearing my necklace?”

Everything sort of pauses around the two of them as Evan tells him he’s still in love with him, that he hated every day he was gone but he had shit to take care of before he came back, and that even though he tried every day to find Delirious and say he was coming back he was never able to. And he ends his speech with 

“Delirious, if I was gonna break your heart, it was gonna be for a damn good reason, and I wasn’t gonna leave it broken if I could come back.”

At this point Delirious goes quiet, and then looks to Brian and asks if the same rules apply about the kiss and going back in the water. Brian tells him the truth, which is that Evan would be with him forever, as a human, unless they weren’t in love anymore in which case he’d stay a mermaid. 

Delirious then bites his own lip with enough force to make it bleed, which makes Evan panic a bit from the sight. But Delirious says he needs to do it to start the first part of the ceremony, because he’s still in love with Evan, and Luke is like “are you serious” and Brian’s like “are you sure? You can’t go back from this” and both Evan and Delirious are like “absolutely, yes.”

So they kiss, and Evan is getting poisoned by Delirious’s blood as he kisses him, and the whole thing is over in a literal flash as his body glows from the poison and is instantly cured.

Has legs! It worked! And now Delirious, who is laughing and crying in happiness, is hauling him out of the pool and it’s happy all around (except for Luke, who warns him to not touch a single goddamn thing in the house without someone watching him.)

And they lived happily ever after.

[batgirl-87]

So @mdeenise “challenged” me to answer all of the questions from this Hogwarts Mystery Asks: MC. I’ve already answered some (can check ‘asks’ or ‘ask game’ tags, I’ll also link them in my Masterlist) so I’ll answer the rest I haven’t been asked yet here because

1. What is their whole name? 

Nereida Adelyn-Keira LaFontaine Black

5. How is there relationship with Jacob?

Keira and Jacob were very close - it was them against the world! They’re very protective of one another, they can get/have gotten into a lot of trouble together, both with a rebellious, mischievous streak; but they are also siblings so there’s teasing, embarrassing each other, lots of physical ‘play fighting’ - they’re very much like I can be mean to my sibling but if you’re mean to them I’ll hurt you. Clearly when he ‘disappeared’ it was devastating for Keira and she felt completely alone. 

6. How is their relationship with their parents?

Both Keira and Jacob loved their mom who was their primary caregiver. Keira honestly doesn’t really remember her dad much but Jacob hates him. She has a vague recollection of him and Regulus and Sirius, a bit better memory of Sirius who kept in contact with her and Jacob even after they moved to Canada, possibly to spite his parents but Keira thinks he actually cares about his younger half-siblings even if it was something that started out from spite or curiosity. 

When their mom died of course Jacob and Keira were very sad over their loss. They were then taken in by their mom’s close friends and moved to Canada from Ireland and while there was an adjustment period they both appreciate the care they provided, and while Jacob and Keira didn’t exactly feel like they belong in this ‘family’ their mom’s friends were great parental figures and they do care about them and appreciate everything they’ve done for them. Their dad was nonexistent in their lives after the passing of their mom (he passed soon after the next year, after the death of Regulus) but when they arrived in the UK to attend Hogwarts they did find savings left for them from their dad in Gringotts (safe to assume without his wife’s knowledge). 

So both love their mom and ‘adopted’ parents (unofficially adopted =p) and while Jacob hates their dad and views him as a manipulative, selfish, neglectful arse, Keira is pretty neutral and apathetic about her dad since she doesn’t really remember him all that well. But she appreciates the money! =p 

8. How’s their relationship with their family?

Ahahahahahaha - I’m cackling =p

Unfortunately, the family on Keira and Jacob’s mom’s side are all pretty much passed or they have no idea who they are =p Their mom and mom’s parents are passed and their mom had no siblings since her mom died relatively soon after her birth (undines...) As stated before, Jacob and Keira appreciate and care very much for their mom’s friends who took them in after her passing, although a bit of awkwardness since it’s not ‘really’ their family...

As for the Black side of their family *more cackling* Orion seemed much more interested in their mom than them and didn’t seem to want much to do with them, at least according to Jacob. Walburga hates them and this whole situation, of course! With good reason! She honestly probably would of had them killed. She focused most of her energy on ensuring this scandal did not get out into the public and was probably very relieved when they moved across the pond. Of course when Jacob returned to attend Hogwarts he was done living this lie and didn’t care who it upset and went by his Black family name, encouraging his sister to do the same - this family would not win! Walburga could try to deny it all she wanted but a paternity test (which I’ve done some research on Wizarding World paternity tests and some interesting ideas came up!) just proved it.

Despite this, Walburga and the rest of the Black family continued to ignore their entire existence. Andromeda may have been left out of the loop considering she was disowned from the family as well but when Keira and Tonks realized they were both related to Bellatrix Lestrange, and therefore related themselves, Keira was so happy to be accepted by some members of the Black family. Sirius also was accepting of his younger half-siblings and stayed in contact with them even after they moved to Canada. He may have only gone to see them at first out of curiosity and then continued to visit and communicate with them out of spite to his parents but he probably did care about them and enjoyed them more than Regulus because they weren’t brought up in a pureblood elitist household. Probably wished their mom was his mom which would just upset Walburga. And if Walburga didn’t hate them before, after she passed, Keira, now more spiteful and daring with everything that has happened, moved into the now empty (well except for Kreacher) 12 Grimmauld Place which would just piss Walburga off! How she convinced Remus, no idea - basically she was like I’m doing this and Remus had to go along with it =p

Wait, is Kreacher family? Keira and Kreacher argue a lot and she will not stand for him being mean to Remus or any of her friends and will threaten to kick him out although it’s an empty threat because she wouldn’t actually kick him out and make him homeless! Kreacher of course thinks she’s invading some place that does not belong to her but because she is a Black she sort of does belong there and while not related to his previous Walburga, she is to Orion so he has to put up with her =p They eventually reach an understanding. Kreacher is free to stay there and does not have to do any chores or cleaning up after her or Remus, as long as he’s nice... or just stays away from her friends and Remus. 

I’m not sure how Regulus felt about them, maybe neutral? I think discovering his dad’s affair would be a shock to him, he might be curious as well to meet them and I like to think did meet them at least once, possibly while their mom was passing (like Orion went to see her and Sirius and Regulus decided to go as well because, hey, it is their younger siblings whether they like it or not and it’s a hard thing to go through) but I think he was more worried and concerned about Death Eater affairs and tricking Voldemort =p

So while Keira is close with Tonks, and probably her parents as well, and both Keira and Jacob are accepted by Sirius, and maybe even Regulus, who knows =p, most of the Black family still pretends they don’t exist. Although I like to think Keira later bonds with Draco and they become close and overall these next generations are going to be better. And while Bellatrix may refuse to acknowledge Keira’s relationship to her, deep down she actually really likes Keira because she’s a strong, tough bitch who isn’t afraid of her and would have killed Dumbledore without even being a Death Eater if asked =p Seriously, Keira knows she’s actually Bella’s favorite. 

(This also pretty much works for my original HP OC bio where she was Sirius’ daughter because besides Tonks, Andromeda, and Ted, the rest of the Black family wouldn’t really acknowledge her existence either)

Does Remus count as family? Of course he does, he’s “Uncle Remus!” =p Remus and Keira had an instant bond, they are incredibly close - I like to think of it as two people who felt completely alone in the world found each other and now they were not longer alone. Keira is very much like Sirius, and Jacob can be very much like James actually, so it was actually nice for Remus to be around them if not bittersweet. I actually have a post about Keira and Remus’ relationship so I won’t say too much more besides they are very close and Keira is suuuuper protective over him.

9. Do they have any other siblings?

Sirius and Regulus Black

11. Do they have pets?

Keira has a Siamese cat and Jacob had a Barred Owl named Archimedes which I guess is hers now too? Jacob also wanted a dog or crup but then went to school so their ‘adoptive’ parents are taking care of it =p

14. Any crushes?

Charlie Weasley.

She won’t outright admit it but it’s obvious to everyone else besides Charlie. Wasn’t even aware of it herself for quite awhile! =p But fortunately she plays it pretty cool and isn’t a stuttering mess around him so maybe he has no idea she likes him because she’s so chill and nonchalant about it. Although she can be flirtatious but she can be like that with a lot of people =p (She’s related to Sirius she can’t help it! =p)

16. Have they ever dated someone before (Either back at their home or at Hogwarts)?

Rumour has it during her summer before Sixth Year, where she spent most of it in Canada, and going into Sixth Year she was dating someone. Has not been confirmed nor denied. 😜

(I think that’s all of them? Wasn't that much actually, I expected more =p But I still wrote a lot more than intended so sorry about that! Hope I explained things well enough! If anyone has any questions or want to talk about MC’s more hit me up! Thanks for your challenge! 😉💙)

[espships]

Kpop Ship for cosmicrailwaybisexual

Lowkey proud of myself for kicking butt with posting recently, whoop whoop lol. I am here with @cosmicrailwaybisexual ‘s ship and I’m SUUUUPER excited to get into it! I haven’t made ships for two groups mentioned yet and it was great shipping you! Let’s get into it shall we?

Based off of your request, I have taken these traits about you: 

You’re short, with blue eyes and glasses

You have anxiety and can overwork yourself easily

You’re very insecure no pls I’m 100% you’re beautiful

You’re slightly clumsy girl SAME

A very determined person 

You care about others 

You're a compassionate person and you’re also sensitive 

You blush easy 

You enjoy staying at home S A M E OMGGGG

You enjoy reading, listening to music and watching TV shows

And you often spend a lot of time day dreaming 

And after asking you, you have asked me to ship you with, BTS, EXO, K.A.R.D, and Seventeen. I’m excited to ship you with these lovely groups and without further a do, LET’S GO!

BTS: Namjoon

When I started to thinking about who to ship you with, when I thought of Joon, I thought you two would be a match made in heaven tbh. From the anxiety, the clumsiness, being insecure, being compassionate, and being determined in your work- y’all would just work out great. There will be a lot of times when if Joon isn’t busy, he’ll stay at the dorm with you to hang out and spend some time together since he’s so busy bonding times can be tricky. And sometimes you’ll like to tag along with Joon to the studio and you’ll chill out a bit while he works. Having you around would help Joon’s stress level, and if he needs to take a break, you’re the best medicine for him. He’d ask for your opinion a lot for lyrics or melodies, and he really enjoys having you help out and seeing the smile on your face when he makes something really awesome. And I can totally see Joon doing a V Live while he’s in his studio bless those lives and you can be seen in the corner doing homework or whatever you would need to do to keep you busy. The fans could always see you and would want you to come and say hi, and of course Joon wants to have the interaction, so he’ll call you up to sit beside him. Then the fans would give different compliments and Joon would totally agree with the fans, and it’d make you very blushy, and it’d be so freaking cute, I love the idea of that!! Another really cute thing I could see Joon and you doing would be Joon tagging along when it would be time for you to get new glasses. Joon would be absolutely swoon over your blue eyes, and he’d want you to get a pair that would really accentuate your eyes. I can without a doubt know that Joon would always want to show off and showcase your beauty to the world, and your eyes are a must when it comes to showing them off. Moving on, getting a little more sensitive with the content, Joon experiencing your first anxiety attack. You better believe that boy is going to be doing anything and everything in his power to help prevent another anxiety attack, because you hurting is something he never wants to see. Joon would be very cautious about your anxiety and stress levels after the first attack, and he would never hesitate to stop you in your work to help calm you down or have you take a break. And Joon also has had his fair share of anxiety problems, bc hello, and Joon wouldn’t want you to get so overworked when there are easy solutions to help. And also since Joon can get anxiety real easy, you also help Joon out just as much as he helps you. We all know that Joon can get overwhelmed, and so pulling him away from work for five or ten minutes can really help his stress levels, and if you can help him out, you’re sure as hell going to. And last but not least, a touch of PDA. Back hugs are a big thing, forehead kisses, hand holding to keep you two together in crowds, and I can’t forget, #KimDaily pictures all the time!

EXO: Kyungsoo 

Right off the bat, you two would be a cute homebody/kinda sorta domesticated couple. One thing you’d do a lot would be tagging along with Kyungsoo for his drama’s to support him. Lowkey leaking sneak peaks and teaser pictures to the fans to get them hyped up for his show would always be your fav, and the attention would always grab amazing support. And like overall, you and Soo would be such a soft couple, the fans would get whiplash. Kyungsoo would admire the compassion towards what you love, and he would also admire the loyalty you have for your family and friends. There would be a lot of times when Kyungsoo will catch you daydreaming daydream daydream, and he’d find it very cute and he’d always ask you what you’d be daydreaming about. Your mental health would be so important to Kyungsoo, he’d be one of those people that will be 110% honest and right by your side the whole time if you’re struggling. As soon as Kyungsoo would learn that you’d have anxiety problems, he’d make it his #1 priority to keep your stress levels down as much as possible, and if he wouldn’t be able to keep you unstressed and you’re flipping the fuck out, he would commence a mandatory relaxation time. Taking time away from light, noise, electronics, everything basically, Kyungsoo would take time to hold you in a dark, quiet area for a good couple hours to really calm down. He’d whisper sweet nothings in your ear, keep you wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket, and just talk about calming things and about each other. Mental health can really be a major part in keeping your other sections of health in balance, so Kyungsoo would put in just as much effort towards your mental health as he would any other section of your health. Another form of relaxation time between the two of you could be cute little dates. Sometimes they could be take out dates, taking some time to help Soo practice his lines, or even taking cat naps tangled up in each other. You both wouldn’t need big and fancy dates to help show your love for each other, just by simply taking the time to spend some hours alone together can be more than enough to show your love. And I could see you and Soo watching different TV shows together. And then sometimes Soo would get really busy, but if he was in the car somewhere, or any time where he could take a break, he’d take as much time as he could to catch up with you on the shows so he would be up to date with you. It’d be a very cute couple thing to do, and sometimes you can even get some of the other member’s involved. And last but not least once again, PDA. I feel like Soo would be more professional when it would come to PDA, hand holding of course, and cute back hugs to help accentuate your shortness, very cute.

K.A.R.D: Jiwoo

Some damn good aesthetics that I’m loving to imagine. This is my first girlxgirl ship, so please bear with me here. You two would be cuties and a half. First off, comeback time would be a little difficult to spend time together, but post time promotions are always the best times to go out, or simply just be together. One of the most favorite things for you two to do would be hanging out at the dorm, listen to music through speakers, and be entangled together under a large, warm blanket. Jiwoo can be a bit blunt sometimes, and she’ll be considerate of your feelings, but the tea can be real if the need be. I can see Jiwoo complimenting you 24/7, whether it be on your quirks, your height, your beauty, she will legit compliment you on anything and everything, mostly because she wants you to know that you are BEAUTIFUL INSIDE AND OUT and also she loves to state the obvious. I can also see you getting close with the members, and you’d care for the members and Jiwoo would think it would be the sweetest thing. Jiwoo’s fellow members are family to her, and knowing you and her family getting along would mean the absolute world to her. Jiwoo would also be very adamant on your mental health. Going back to the bluntness, Jiwoo would let you know when you should step back and take a chill pill and allow yourself to relax. Sometimes she would come off as a little too rough, but she would always come back and explain that she would never mean to hurt you, it’s just that she never wants you to be stressed, and she would want you to be as stress free as she could possibly have you. And similar to Namjoon, she would be able to quickly tell when you’d get too stressed too easy, and she’d take your phone or laptop away like, “hey, you need to chill and take some time to relax and gather your thoughts.” She would without a doubt 110% snuggle with you if you asked, it would never be a problem for her. And she’d somehow be able to bring out her maknae charms on you when you’d be snuggled up together and you two would be little giggle boxes, it’d be very cute. I could also see you two going out the most between all your ships. Night outs to a cute little restaurant every now and then, and doing cute cheesy couple stuff like sharing a straw in your milkshake, it’d be a little cingy, but like it’s actually cute as fuck and adorable. And last but not least, PDA. Tbh, I can totally seeing Jiwoo like “fuck it, if I wanna hold your hand or kiss you, I am going to.” The whole Hidden Kard fandom would be like “OMG WORK IT MOM’S GET IT!!” And you’d receive a boat load of support!

Seventeen: Vernon

We’re almost done and I’m a little sad. You and Vernon would be another cute couple. Vernon would compliment you nicely, and he’d be more snuggly and quiet if he would be around you, it’d be cute, I hope you can envision what I am envisioning. Some aesthetics would include: sleepy Sunday’s, music is constantly playing, there’d be take out containers everywhere, just to name a few wink wonk. You’d 110% support his music, the rap line, as well as the rest of Seventeen because um hello, talent? I think yes. And I can also see Vernon having a cute little habit where he’d daydream too, and you two would have cute pillow talk sessions about your daydreams and it’d be soft and so sweet. Regarding mental health, you two would be each others back bones and you would support and care for each other 156510%. And of course Vernon would spend a lot of time trying to slowly help you become less insecure and he’d want to embrace your self confidence more. Vernon would know for a fact that you are so incredibly beautiful, and he’d want you to know how beautiful and amazing you are, and why you should believe him. And like, this little boy would be so extra one time he’d make a full PowerPoint, with animations and all on what makes you beautiful and why you need to love yourself. It’d be a good sized power point, it’d be so cute too. He’d add all these cute little details that would go along with your personality, and it’d be a real eye opener to the both of you on how much Vernon actually payed attention to you. You'd also stop being so critical on yourself and pls do, honey you are BEAUTIFULLLLL and you’d start making progress on how to get over your insecurities. And he’d always let you know how pretty you are in your glasses. He’d always believe that when you have glasses, they make you three time more unique, and your beautiful blue eyes can even get more attention. He’d love staring at your eyes, all day every day. And like you best believe he’d just down any hater that were to come your way. Vernon is a savage, we all know this, and so if one irrelevant hater comes your way, Vernon shuts down that hater faster than you can blink. He has got your back more than you could ever imagine. Date nights, they’re pretty chill, except for anniversaries, that’s when Vernon likes to have you and him get dressed up and you go out to a fancy restaurant and celebrate. And then once again, last but not least, PDA. I personally feel like he’d go with very normal PDA, most of the affection is saved for you two when you’re home, but he always has a hand on your waist or linked in your hands through crowds so he won’t loose ya, none of us would want that to happen now, would we? 

*deep breath in* So I’m dead in fluff and feels, how about you? I apologize for the wait on this post, but as soon as I started I had complications, but nothing shall stop me from shipping! Please let me know if I guessed any of your biases, and we can talk about your ship if you want, I’m 110% down, just send me a message! Thank you so so much for requesting, and I hope this was worth the wait! <3

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