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cheesy09 · 10 months

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[CN] Kiro's Partner Date

🌸 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for a date that hasn't been released on the EN server yet! 🌸

[Note: This date was translated with the help of Google Translate :>]

[PART 1]

The clear late autumn sunshine shone on me through the glass window.

The sound of sizzling fried eggs was not far away, and accompanied by the soft sound of exploding droplets of oil, there was a soft cry.

Kiro: Ah!

MC: Kiro?

Kiro: No worries, I was just shocked!

Kiro: Sit down quickly. I agreed to make breakfast myself to reward my temporary manager~

Kiro asked me to sit back in my seat and made a confident gesture.

I looked away from his blonde hair and flipped through the script on the dining table.

The logo on the printed paper belonged to Stellar, an affordable luxury jewelry brand that was popular in the global fashion circle.

Some time ago, Savin secured the endorsement of this brand for Kiro. The brand was going to shoot a set of advertisements for the new Valentine's Day products that would be launched later, but Savin was currently hospitalized with gastroenteritis.

Therefore, I agreed to Kiro's invitation and would be his temporary manager again tomorrow.

[T/n: An allusion to Kiro's Stardust Date where MC had agreed to be his manager for the first time :>]

My eyes scanned the script. Perhaps in order to cater to the theme, this advertisement was in the form of a two persons shoot.

MC: "Shot 1, Kiro opens his eyes as his partner touches his cheek gently, gazing at him tenderly..."

Looking at the lines of text, the tender and affectionate scene from this morning came to mind:

His soft blond hair fluttering on the tip of my nose, and his fair face obscured by the morning light that sneaked in through the curtains.

The person who was still dreaming still had a smile on his lips. He muttered something and hugged me tighter.

Indeed... quite romantic.

But when I thought about this scene being seen by more people, I suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.

Kiro: Ta-da!!——Kiro’s special breakfast is out~

Along with the words, a piece of fragrant toast was handed to me. The slightly crispy cut surface was covered with a crooked heart-shaped omelette.

Kiro sat next to me, glanced at the half-open script, and then dropped his gaze on my slightly pursed lips.

Kiro: Miss Chips' expression seems a little strange.

There was clearly a smile hidden in his words, so I deliberately dragged out my voice.

MC: I do care a little bit...

I said, as I quickly leaned towards his cheek and kissed him gently.

MC: But that’s all~

The breath of the person in front of me paused slightly. Kiro lowered his eyes and suddenly approached me.

Kiro: But I think it could be a little more.

Along with the words, a kiss followed and fell on my lips.

After lingering for a while, I pushed Kiro away with a smile, and then he cut off a piece of fried egg and leaned over.

Kiro: Come and try it, it’s rare that I make it so perfectly!

I took a bite in cooperation and opened my eyes wide in surprise.

MC: Wow! It’s really delicious!

Kiro: Mm, maybe the frying pan also knew that this was for you, so he gave me extra credit~

He seemed to have thought of something and winked at me slyly.

Kiro: However, given that the work of a temporary agent is very hard - if MC wants other "rewards" in the future, I can indulge you.

[PART 2]

The sky in the early morning had not yet soaked up the suns rays. We got out of the car and walked side by side to a retro villa.

After entering the filming location according to the address, I quickly saw the director coming to greet us.

Director: Kiro, thank you for coming so early.

Kiro: It's okay. It's work, after all. That's right--

He turned sideways and introduced me to the director.

Kiro: This is the producer of "Miracle Finder". She'll be responsible for all my filming work today.

MC: Hello, I've heard so much about you.

I took a step forward, smiled and shook hands with the director.

Director: Hello, I’ve seen you at a film festival before, but I didn’t expect to meet you here.

Director: We'll try to finish all the filming today. Kiro can go change clothes first.

Accompanied by the voice, the makeup artist hurried over. Kiro and I exchanged tacit glances and then he left. I looked around while I waited.

The spotless patterned glass windows reflected colorful halos, which is reflected on the flourishing gladiolus leaves. Classic European literary poetry collections and vinyl records were displayed on vintage mahogany bookshelves. Even the candlesticks displayed on the table had a delicate texture.

MC: So exquisite. As expected a big brand...

Just as I was obsessing over the scenery here, a figure suddenly appeared from behind the shadows of the leaves.

His satin shirt loomed under the wide open suit, and his necklace left a little sparkle between the lines of his collarbone.

Fragments of sunlight fell on his eyelashes, like dancing gold. When he saw me, a smile appeared on his lips.

Kiro: A lost princess was discovered.

I couldn't help but smile, and pretended to bend down and lift up the hem of my skirt, following his words.

MC: What a coincidence, I was waiting for a prince to take me away.

Kiro: Well... the stars on my chest tell me that the person you are waiting for must be me.

Kiro approached me as he spoke, his voice so low that it was drowned out by my pounding heartbeat.

MC: Really? How can you prove it?

Kiro: I heard that when you meet the person you are destined for, your heartbeats will resonate with each other. Listen--

He took my hand and put it to his heart. The firm heartbeat beneath his chest gradually merged with the pounding and accelerating heartbeat in my chest.

Kiro: Can you please come with me to the set, my princess?

I smiled, nodded, and walked down to the attic holding hands with him.

When we returned to the set, I saw many people gathered in the lobby. Kiro and I exchanged glances and stepped forward with some confusion.

Kiro: What happened?

Director: ...Kiro, at the moment, the filming will be slightly delayed.

Director: The model you're working with just accidentally scratched her finger. Some close-ups are difficult to take. We're looking for a suitable person to take over.

Every minute of space and labor was a cost. If such an accident occurs, it was no wonder that such emergency measures had to be taken.

MC: But still, there's a difference between amateurs and models. Wouldn’t it be problematic?

Director: Don't worry. All that needs to be shot is a couple of shorts of less than ten seconds, and the focus of the camera will be on Kiro's face. As for the post-production process, it will be processed more carefully.

Director: As long as the shooting atmosphere is in place, there won't be any big problems.

I felt relieved and looked through the director towards the noisy set. The assistant director was discussing something with the female staff on site one by one, shaking his head anxiously from time to time.

My heart moved slightly. I don’t know why, but there was a voice in my heart that seemed to urge me to comply with this sudden impulsive idea.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Kiro lowering his eyes slightly, and his gaze happened to fall on my hand.

Could it be that he was also thinking... Inadvertently, our eyes met. He winked at me and spoke softly.

Kiro: MC, I think you can give it a shot.

My original expectations were due to his encouragement, and I became more and more eager to try it. I hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

Perhaps rather than the clamoring thoughts, him being here was what made me more determined.

Kiro raised his voice and called to the director who was turning around to leave.

Kiro: Director, MC's conditions are actually pretty good.

Kiro: She's had previous shooting experience and can adapt to the position of the camera. She should make a good candidate.

I cooperatively took two steps forward and stood in front of the director. The director looked at my hand for a moment and nodded.

Director: It's indeed possible... Let's try it first.

My heart rejoiced upon hearing those words and I looked up at Kiro. His eyes were also gleaming.

Director: The camera crew is ready and the lights are in place. Kiro, you have both the scripts. Check the stage directions.

The crew started moving, step by step. Kiro also took my hand and walked to the dressing room.

Kiro: Let's go, Miss Partner.

Kiro: Don't worry. With me here, you'll definitely be able to perform exceptionally well.

[PART 3]

With the shutting of the door, the surrounding area became quiet. Kiro pressed me onto the armchair, hummed a brisk melody and pushed me towards the dressing table.

Contrary to my confidence, I picked up the script beside me and began figuring it out word for word.

MC: "Caress his face for 5-7 seconds and then slowly slide it down his neck."

I raised my hand into the air and roughly acted it out.

MC: Hmm... the action of staying on the neck should last four or five seconds.

MC: The gestures aren't marked. Will the director explain them on the spot?

I thought about it and asked the person next to me, but I didn't get a reply. The next second, the script in front of me was suddenly taken away without explanation.

Kiro's handsome face loomed in front of me, a teasing smile in his eyes.

KIro: Is my partner nervous?

I looked at him for a moment and nodded honestly.

MC: A little bit...

MC: Although I understand the process, it's another thing to personally be participating in shooting of the advertisement.

A familiar warmth coated my wrist. Kiro held up my hand and carefully applied crimson glitter onto my fingertips.

His warm breath seemed to ambiguously brush across my fingertips and I couldn't help but tremble when I heard him speak.

Kiro: Then let's seize the moment and review the acting lesson that Teacher Kiro gave before.

Kiro: Relax your shoulders first - then imagine the camera as a mute friend with big eyes.

Familiar words lingered in my ears. I couldn't help but think of the time when he snuck onto the set to cheer me up while I was filming a variety show in a foreign country.

[T/n: This a reference to Set Visit Date :>]

A warmth welled up in my heart. I took a breath and relaxed my body as per Kiro's instructions.

Unknowingly, a lot of my former tension truly dissipated.

Kiro: Remember the next step?

MC: Of course. It was the most important step - close my eyes and imagine you smiling at me.

I was about to close my eyes and picture the smile of the person in front of me in my mind, when I suddenly fell into a warm embrace.

His reassuring breath lingered on the tip of my nose, and I heard him speak softly.

Kiro: Although you've remembered it correctly...

Kiro: If the other party is in front of you, charging this way will be more effective.

His fingertips circled the hair on the side of my face and stroked it lingeringly. I simply rubbed my chin against his shoulder and spoke with a hint of teasing.

MC: Why do I feel that Teacher Kiro is being a bit selfish?

Kiro: Well, "practical classes" are very difficult, and this teacher needs to cheer himself up.

I smiled and hugged him back, hearing his voice ring out.

Kiro: Don't worry, just follow my lead.

Kiro: Believe me, you'll be the most suitable "partner" ever.

The European-style prop bookshelves and green plants were surrounded by large and small reflectors and swing arms.

The director stood behind the camera talking to the staff. His eyes wandered over us for a moment and he nodded with satisfaction.

Director: There will only be two shorts, is that okay?

Kiro: Don't worry, director, we're ready.

With that said, Kiro led me towards the corner where the scenery was set up. Following the director's instructions, he sat down next to the bookshelf and straightened his collar.

His left arm was slightly bent and rested casually behind his ear. His golden hair hung down a little messily, leaving a light shadow on his face.

His blue eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a sharp arc. Even though I was still in the studio, I felt like the air was filled with a little more danger.

Director: Three, two, one, hand model go.

Director: Change the angle and focus on the side of his face.

The director spoke from behind the camera. I raised my hand in response and quickly thought about the flow of the script.

In 3-5 seconds... move down slowly...

I steadied my breathing and gently touched Kiro's face with my fingertips, but my movements were slightly imperceptibly stiff.

Amidst the slow music, the distance of the camera narrowed again. The next second, my hand was held involuntarily.

The familiar warmth came from the palms of each of our hands. I blinked and looked at Kiro in surprise.

His fingertips rubbed my wrist gently, and he raised his head casually and lazily, staring at me intently with his deep eyes.

Strange, this interaction is clearly not in the script...

I blinked my eyes, some kind of vague suspicion emerging in my mind, and I tentatively moved my palm closer. Sure enough, I saw Kiro curling his lips slightly.

The next second, the force coming from his hand tightened.

I got closer unexpectedly, and my chin almost touched his golden hair. I subconsciously wanted to distance myself, but my wrists were clasped tighter.

His warm breath slipped from the inside of my wrist, with a certain lingering meaning.

I lowered my eyes involuntarily and looked into those eyes that made people indulge in them. Seeing Kiro tilt his head slightly, he spoke softly.

Kiro: MC, look at me.

Kiro: Pay no attention to them.

Kiro: All you have to do is look at me.

My heart beat uncontrollably. I unconsciously raised my hand and brushed the corner of his lips.

The light red smudged out silently, and my fingertips also gained a few hints of ambiguous color.

All kinds of equipment faded from my field of vision, and it seemed like we were not in a studio, but in a corner of our home.

And this moment was just a part of our everyday intimacy.

Director: Turn down the music, slow down the tempo...

Amidst the clicking sounds, the director said something to the assistant director behind the monitor.

I tried to hear clearly, but my attention was instinctively distracted by the actions of the person in front of me.

It seemed that he was dissatisfied with my lack of concentration just now, or wanted to show a more tense effect. He clasped my fingers and slid them slowly and steadily towards his neck.

He stared at me with burning eyes, like some kind of silent temptation.

MC: .....

We looked at each other off-camera for a moment, the corners of our lips slightly curved, and I hooked his fingertips in a nonchalant manner.

Stopping at the outline of his collarbone for a moment, I slowly touched down along the open line of his collar.

Kiro: .....

As if he didn't expect my reaction, Kiro's eyes flashed, but his smile deepened.

He followed my movements and turned sideways, pressing closer to me. The thin chain on his chest swayed, making a crisp and clear sound.

Director: Go ahead, keep the momentum going.

The music suddenly rose a little higher, playing a lingering and intimate melody.

The palm of his hand tightened slightly. Kiro tilted his head and left an instant kiss on the inside of my wrist.

Director: Cut!

The director stood up behind the monitor, nodded to us with satisfaction, and whispered something to the staff. The makeup artist on the side walked towards us immediately.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Amidst the loud noise, I felt Kiro hugging me from behind.

His smiling voice immediately brushed over my ears with warmth.

Kiro: Thank you for your hard work, Miss Partner~

Kiro: This shoot was ten thousand times better than I imagined.

[PART 4]

The gurgling boiling sound was drowned out by the noise of the hot pot restaurant, and the spicy aroma of chili lingered with the heat.

Kiro picked up the hairy belly and put it in my bowl, then coughed heavily.

Kiro: The first piece of hairy belly at this celebration banquet is awarded to the rescue hero MC~

MC: Thank you to the organizing committee. I will continue to work hard in the future!

I seriously picked up the hairy belly and bit down on it. The familiar taste spread in my mouth, and a satisfied smile appeared.

Looking at Kiro, I found that he was also looking at me with bright eyes. I picked up the small piece of crispy meat on the side and handed it to him.

MC: The reason I was able to enter that state so quickly was thanks to senior Kiro's guidance of the atmosphere. And so he deserves a special reward.

Kiro raised his eyebrows and spoke seriously.

Kiro: I wasn't deliberately guiding anything for that scene today.

MC: Hmm? But our interaction was obviously different from the one in the script...

Kiro: Actually, from a professional perspective, whether filming or advertising, it does not necessarily have to be performed according to the framework of the script.

Kiro: Sometimes acting appropriately on the spot can stimulate different chemical reactions.

I nodded thoughtfully and saw the clear and serious eyes of the person in front of me.

Kiro: But from my personal point of view, this was all possible because of you.

MC: ....me?

Kiro: Because you were my partner, I had those subconscious instinctive expressions.

Kiro: There's no need to deliberately think about interaction patterns and romantic atmosphere...

Kiro: I'd just hold your hand and everything would unfold naturally.

He picked up the tribute vegetables on the side and pushed them into the pot with ease. The final sound came through the curls of steam.

I thought about the interaction with him in front of the camera and laughed softly.

MC: Having said that, I'm actually the same.

MC: At first, all I could think about was the directions of the script. When you suddenly pulled me, I almost didn't react.

MC: But before I knew it, I had returned to our usual way of getting along, forgetting all about that...

The corners of Kiro's eyes curled up, and there was a hint of cunning in his voice.

Kiro: Actually, when shooting that set of shots, I almost failed several times.

I tried to remember for a moment and looked at him doubtfully.

MC: Whether that’s true or false, you acted so naturally!

Kiro: I'm not going to lie to you, do you still remember what the director commented in the script for that paragraph? "Keep an appropriate sense of distance and give a sense of gradual progression."

Kiro: But when I held your wrist, I really wanted to shorten the distance a little bit, and a little bit more.

Kiro: It's best not to worry about anything. I'll just follow my heart and hold you.

The lights reflected bright colors in his eyes. My heart moved and I couldn't help but lean closer to his position.

MC: Then let me reveal a secret to Teacher Kiro.

MC: I thought the same thing when I looked at you in front of the camera.

--I wanted to get closer to the person in front of me and bring us closer together.

Amidst the noise all around, we looked into each other's eyes and smiled, the cups in our hands clinking with a brisk sound.

There was no need to tell it to the whole world. The cries in our hearts had already been heard clearly by each other.

--I have the best you in the world.

Translation Masterlist: here

#mlqc #mlqc cn #mlqc spoilers #mlqc kiro #I HV SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS DATE LIKE---#THEIR INTIMACY LEVELS >>>>#i need morrrreeee ugh #this is the closest we've come to referencing Stardust Date *SOBS*

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kyndaris · 5 months

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The Perfect Cup

As everyone knows, the 14th of February is Valentine's Day, where romance reigns supreme where flowers and boxes of chocolates are gifted to significant others. In Japan and Korea, Valentine's Day is when girls give the boys they like chocolate. A month later, on 14th March, boys return the gesture. And given its marketability, I saw many advertisements for it as we travelled across both Japan and South Korea.

Unfortunately for bleachpanda and myself, we were both single. So, on White Day, we headed all the way down to Yokohama instead to treat ourselves. Not with chocolate, mind you, although there was a Godiva cafe I regret not actually visiting, but because I wanted to immerse myself in the locations that were in Yakua: Like a Dragon and Lost Judgment.

Yokohama is a city south of Tokyo and is the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefeecture. It was also one of the first Japanese ports opened to foreign trade back in the mid-19th century. But it's also known for a range of distractions including Cosmo World, the Red Brick Warehouses and, of course, our first destination for the day: The Cup Noodle Museum.

The humble Cup Noodle started life out as Chicken Ramen. The inventor, Momofuku Ando, had been trying to make something that needed only the addition of some hot water. It was during a trip to America that Momofuku was inspired by people putting his chicken ramen noodles in a cup, pouring in hot water and then eating them with a fork. By bringing together all sorts of innovative ideas, including changing one's perspective on how to place the ramen into a cup, he was able to come up with a winning formula that soon became an international sensation.

Entering inside the Cup Noodle museum, bleachpanda and I set about creating our perfect cup - much like how Noctis and his friends did during their road trip adventure in Final Fantasy XV (a game bleachpanda still hasn't finished even as she tries to guilt me into not playing Final Fantasy XVI as soon as it released. I'm GETTING there. I just need to finish off a few OTHER games I bought like Like a Dragon: Ishin!). In the game, Noctis and friends were tasked with slaying numerous monsters depending on the type of ingredient you chose when speaking with Gladiolus.

Heck, I even posted a picture on this very blog where someone had cosplayed as Noctis with the Cup Noodle hat!

Oh, memories...

In any case, bleachpanda and I were able to successfully make our own flavours of Cup Noodle and designing the outside too! Due, of course, to my lack of creation, I simply drew a picture of Pikachu. But I know if my friend Rinbeti had come along, she would have probably drawn something either wondrous or terrifying.

There's no telling if she'll be wholesome or draw something that's NSFW. Perhaps both, actually.

Afterwards, bleachpanda and I took the opportunity to explore the rest of the museum, learning its history: from its humble beginnings to the massive brand it is today. Heck, there's even SPACE ramen now!

From the Cup Noodles Museum, bleachpanda and I headed to the Red Brick Warehouse. Unfortunately, much of it was impassible due to an event that would be held on the next day. And though I was told it was a collection of boutique shops, from what I managed to glimpse, it seemed to primarily be food. And we were still too early to chow down on anything.

So, off we trotted to Chinatown, bypassing the very European-inspired design of Yokohama's Customs House. Now, the Chinatown in Yokohama, it should be known, is the largest Chinatown in Japan and is about 160 years old. Almost everywhere we walked were restaurants or themed shops. And in my eyes, it carried a lot of influence from the Guangdong province of China, as well as Hong Kong.

It was here when we tried out the Japanese idea of yumcha. And while the food was decent, I have to admit, it didn't quite keep the spirit of a rowdy yumcha with trolleys being pushed through narrow aisles between seats as the servers tried to hawk away their offerings to their hungry guests.

Still, I was quite satisfied in wandering around the Chinatown (we even picked up some snacks) before heading to Yamashita Park. Once there, I couldn't help but feel like I'd be thrust into Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Though Yamashita park was only a small portion of the Yokohama world map, I remembered many an amusing side quest in the section, which was only emphasised when Takayuki Yagami was skateboarding in the park as part of his mission to infiltrate all the school clubs in Lost Judgement.

Credit must be given to Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio for bringing these real-world locations to life in video game format. Especially given how I was able to identify so many places that I'd only ever seen in the shrunken down version of the game.

But I didn't have much time to appreciate the Like a Dragon nostalgia because Yokohama had one last surprise for us: The Gundam Factory and its towering recreation of a Gundam that could move through the use of hydraulics! Even for someone who doesn't like mechs in general, seeing the giant robot pose and spout meaningful things about friendship and a bright future was still an impressive sight to witness.

We stayed longer than I anticipated at the Gundam Factory as we waited for the next performance, but bleachpanda was satisfied to record most of the variations. She was, however, disappointed that the shop didn't have much on offer. Given it was set to close by next month, though, she wasn't too bothered.

Plus, you know, there was an apology from the creators on the limitations of what creating a real-life Gundam would entail. It's honestly too bad we haven't yet found a means to find ultralight metals to make them a reality.

With the spectacle of the 'Moving Gundam' in the rearview mirror, bleachpanda and I returned to Tokyo. More specifically, we headed back to Shinjuku station. But before returning to our hotel, bleachpanda and I made a stop at the batting cages (after refuelling at a Krispy Kreme to see if there were any regional specials) to enjoy a uniquely Japanese experience.

I impressed myself with being able to hit several of the balls flung at me at 80-90km/h given how long it had been since I last swung a bat while playing softball. Bleachpanda, on the other hand, managed to punt several of the balls because it was easier and she didn't have to time her swing just right (it's cheating is what it is).

With my arms still feeling weak, bleachpanda and I ended our day with some Japanese KFC. To our dismay, it didn't taste as good as the McDonald's we had at Narita airport when we were heading to South Korea. Nor did it have any potato and gravy! A blasphemous act from anyone who loves and enjoys the KFC back home in Australia.

Disappointed, we returned to our hotel.

It's hard to imagine that tomorrow will be our last day exploring Japan and seeing what is has on offer. I can't believe the trip is coming to an end. It felt both too short and also fairly long.

And yet, a part of me can't wait to get back home and start planning my next great adventure out into the wide world!

#personal blog #travelling #travel blog #yokohama #cup noodle museum #yokohama chinatown #yamashita park #gundam factory

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findroleplay · 1 year

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Searching for discord writing partners that would be willing to be long term and can write varying reply lengths. I typically try to stick to 2-3 but can do more or 1-2 depending on the day. Having someone able to roll with that to keep the muses and story alive would be fantastic. I cannot always be active every day but try to be around for at least a check in. Please keep that in mind if interested.

Details:21+, with a preference for 25+ writers, as mun is 29+ but under 33. All muses will be 21+ as well. Okay with darker themes🕊, along with spicy writings🌶, given the nature of the plots I am looking for. Looking for a balance of spice and plot. Tupperbox use is a must. Doubling/multiple threads is not a necessity but would be nice. I like playing both dominant and more submissive roles so the chance to stretch those muscles is appreciated.

Kinks and such can be discussed over Tumblr before discord information is exchanged. I'm friendly and easy going so it's all good if you decide that the idea just isn't for you and wanna drop after we do some chatting.

Onto the ideas! 🔪🔪

Basically, I'm looking for some slasher fans out there! I put the movies beside the ideas but fandoms for these ideas: Rob Zombie's Halloween, My Blood Valentine 3D, Leatherface, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Dead by Daylight. I am also comfortable with Scream (OG Ghostface), House of Wax, and Friday the 13th series.

Michael Myers (Rob Zombies Halloween): (potential omegaverse dynamics to be used here) Michael ends up taking interest in a nurse that cares for him in his late teens and very early twenties. She shows a healthy amount of respect, knowing what he can do, but doesn't treat him like a monster. She compliments his artistic ability, brings him supplies even when the facility won't provide, a stark difference from how everyone else treats him. It's for that reason alone that he doesn't kill her. He doesn't understand it, of course, but decides he will keep her so she can do for him what he can't. **Willing to play either role here but leaning towards the female OC

Tom Hanniger/Harry Warden against any OC. Takes place after the events of the movie (My Bloody Valentine 3D), in which the OC knows Tom, knows his history, and the trauma he has been through. They have an idea of who he has turned into, what he is capable of but still takes him in, and offers him shelter while he is on the run. Perhaps they think he is redeemable even when he is not or perhaps they had an unrequited love for him that they feel they can now fulfill because something can be offered that couldn't be before, making the OC a little twisted in their own right. **Would like to play Tom in this instance against someone's OC.

Other potential pairings without much idea but open to hearing thoughts:

Either Jedidiah Sawyer/Leatherface from Leatherface or Thomas Brown Hewitt from Texas Chainsaw Massacre:The Beginning against a female OC of mine. Perhaps for Jedidiah/Jackson is someone who is at the Gorman House with him, a close bond formed between them. For Thomas, perhaps a childhood friend or someone who moves to town before the carnage begins and how's him some empathy and compassion, leaving her as not only a potential captive but love interest.

Dead by Daylight: I can play either Evan MacMillan or Frank Morrison against anyone, preferable OC characters.

Sum of characters I want to write: Tom Hanniger, Evan MacMillan, Frank Morrison, Michael Myers

Sum of characters I want to write against: Michael Myers, Jedidiah Sawyer, Thomas Brown Hewitt

Interact with the post (reblog, comment, like) and I'll reach out to you. *Note: I will not be reaching out to blank blogs or blogs with no age range (don't need exact) in their bios or pinned posts.

#roleplay #rp #Halloween rp #my blood valentine 3D rp #leatherface rp #texas chainsaw massacre: the beginning rp #dead by daylight rp #scream rp #house of wax rp #friday the 13th rp

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darkdoverpseeker · 1 year

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Onto the ideas! 🔪🔪

Other potential pairings without much idea but open to hearing thoughts:

Dead by Daylight: I can play either Evan MacMillan or Frank Morrison against anyone, preferable OC characters.

Sum of characters I want to write: Tom Hanniger, Evan MacMillan, Frank Morrison, Michael Myers

Sum of characters I want to write against: Michael Myers, Jedidiah Sawyer, Thomas Brown Hewitt

Interact with the post (reblog, comment, like) and I'll reach out to you.

interact if interested!

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thee-morrigan · 3 years

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bromothymol is blue - violets are violet

*ahem* so uh, that supposed-to-be-short valentines-themed fic that was also supposed-to-be-posted-Monday (y'know, actually on valentine's day)?

yeah, she got absolutely out of control (peep that word count lmaoooo), but she is also finally done (!). It has been A Week and I have fully lost any sense of whether this is any good or needs ample editing or reads like a nyquil-induced fever dream so if you see anything especially wonky, no you don't <3 pairing: nate sewell x holland townsend (f!detective) rating: T wc: 6.8k (...how. h o w.) summary: "I don't celebrate Valentine's Day," and other outright lies Holland has told. [read on ao3]

It had taken some serious flexing of her puppy-eye muscles, but she’d managed to convince him to keep Valentine’s Day lowkey.

“Not nothing,” she’d couched, “just…quiet and intimate. We can avoid the crowds, the overpriced red blend…” Holland stepped closer to Nate, linking her fingers through his and smiling up at him hopefully. Guileless, sweet, earnest.

“Who said anything about red blend?” He laughed softly, arching a brow.

“Well, no one will call it that when they charge you eighty bucks a bottle without batting an eye. Doesn’t mean they didn’t get it from the nearest bodega.”

“Does Wayhaven even have bodegas?”

“Maybe.” She shrugged, undeterred. “I promise we’ll still have fun,” she continued, smile widening with a flash of teeth, eyes still on his.

Nate sighed and shook his head slightly, but he was still smiling when he leaned down to kiss her, lifting their joined hands between them to pull her a hairs-breadth closer, bridging the scant distance between them.

“You,” he said as he pulled back but not away, still grinning at her. “Are so…”

“Winsome?” She grinned back. “Charming? Adorable?”

“Incorrigible,” he countered, brushing her lips with his again before kissing each corner of her mouth. “Persistent. Taking advantage.”

“Taking advantage? Excuse you, sir, I will not have such accusations leveled against me in my own apartment,” she exclaimed, though the force of her mock sternness was somewhat diluted by her barely contained giggling.

She moved as if to pull her hands from his, but he pulled her to him again, disentangling their fingers only to dance his across her ribs with just enough pressure to tickle her, tightening his grip when she gave a squeal of protest and squirmed against him.

“Shameless advantage-taking,” he said against her skin, his face pressed to her neck, and she shivered at the scratch of stubble on sensitive skin, the rumble of his voice against her throat, laughing so hard the only sounds that escaped her were sharp, gasping little hiccups of choked laughter.

When she had caught her breath enough to get any words out, she wrinkled her nose at him, still half-laughing as she said, “I’m pretty sure you are the one taking shameless advantage right now,” wrapping her arms around his waist, chin resting against his sternum as she looked up at him.

He gave a hum of amusement. “Perhaps. Or perhaps it was the only power I had with which to retaliate since I continue to find myself incapable of saying ‘no’ to you.”

In the end, she’d agreed to let him cook her dinner if they could otherwise keep things more relaxed, and that had been that.

So to say Nathaniel Sewell was pleasantly intrigued to find a small envelope tucked beneath his pillow when he awoke that morning, addressed to him in Holland’s looping script, would have been an understatement. He was no longer especially surprised to wake and find her gone — despite his heightened senses, when he slept, he slept deeply. Holland, conversely, tended to wake before dawn most mornings and seemed physically incapable of staying in bed once her body had decided it was officially waking hours.

But she didn’t usually leave envelopes beneath his pillow. Notes, sometimes, particularly if he stayed over at hers and she’d gone on an early coffee run or needed to go to the office for something. But those were almost always on post-it notes, the backs of old receipts, or scrawled along the envelopes of unopened junk mail. Brief and informal little missives stuck to mirrors or door frames, folded scraps of notepaper tucked into his pockets. Though never so brief that they failed to bring a soft smile to his lips, a little warm fullness to his chest at the casual sign-offs bearing misshapen doodled hearts and some variation of ‘xo, H’.

But very rarely anything like this. He sat up and ran one hand through his sleep-tousled hair as he turned the small envelope over in the other. Inside was a blue card designed to look like a candy heart. Instead of the usual dubiously grammatical slogan often found on the candies, though, the text printed on the paper heart formed a question. No, not a question: a joke.

What did the stamp say to the envelope on Valentine’s Day?

Mouth curving into a soft smile, he opened the card to reveal the punchline:

I’m stuck on you.

His smile widened as he read the note Holland had written underneath.

I know I’ll see you tonight but - I might have a little something for you that I think you’ll want before our date. In honor of the Truly Terrible joke on this card, an office-themed clue: stop by the place where I get all my stamps and some of my envelopes for a pre-dinner surprise.

PS - Would you believe me if I said this was by far the least terrible joke/card I found? Who keeps telling card-writers they’re good at jokes??

It hadn’t taken Nate long to figure out that she meant the station. Partially because she hadn’t been particularly cryptic in the first place, and partially because he’d witnessed more than one argument with Adam on whether it was unforgivably unethical to use office supplies for personal reasons. (And, given the degree of stubbornness between them, he suspected the argument would eventually make another appearance. He also suspected that Felix and Mason were continuing to make a sport of the argument through a series of increasingly ridiculous wagers.)

And yet, apparently, he hadn’t been quite quick enough; when he arrived at the station, Holland was nowhere to be found.

“Oh, shoot, you just missed her actually,” Tina Poname drawled, crossing her ankles as she leaned against one of the desks near the entrance to the precinct, mouth twisted in a little moue of hot pink sympathy.

“Apparently a full-fledged detective is required to confirm the only one poisoning Mrs. Lanneham’s dog is, in fact, Mrs. Lanneham, assuming she has once again left chocolates on her coffee table.” She shook her head ruefully. “Every year.”

She shrugged, then straightened a bit, as if she’d only just that second remembered something. She snapped her fingers with a flash of nails seeming to be the exact same shade of fuchsia as her lipstick. “Oh, but actually, though, hang on a second --”

She turned to shift a handful of papers on the desk behind her, spinning back with a pale purple envelope wedged between two fingers.

She beamed up at Nate and extended the envelope with a flick of her wrist. “Almost forgot. She did ask me to give you this if you came by. I’d say sorry it’s coming from me instead of her, but honestly, I’m kind of sorry it’s not actually from me,” she winked, though her smile was purely friendly.

Nate returned the smile and thanked her for passing along the note. As he eyed the envelope, he said, “I suppose it would be fruitless to ask if you happen to know anything about this.”

“This? I mean, I’d just thought, you know, it’s gotta be a Valentine’s Day card, right? What else would it be?” She tilted her head to one side with a little furrow of her brow, although she couldn’t keep her polite smile from turning a shade mischievous.

“What else could it be,” he agreed. “Well, thank you again for this,” he said, tucking the envelope inside his jacket and turning to leave. One hand on the door, he turned back briefly to Tina. “Oh, and I hope Mrs. Lanneham’s dog is all right.”

“Hm?” Tina blinked, though she recovered remarkably quickly. “Oh, yes, mmhm, she’ll be fine.”

Nate only gave her a small, gameful smile before pushing the door open and ducking through it.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” She called to his retreating back, earning what sounded like a huff of laughter as the door swung shut behind him.

Tina waited until he was out of eyesight through the large windows lining the front of the building. Then another five minutes (or as close to it as she could stand to make herself, which turned out to be approximately four minutes and 42 seconds).

Then — finally — she bounced to the back of the station and the door that led into the stairwell. With perhaps a bit more enthusiasm than was strictly necessary, she slapped her palm against the crash bar. As the door swung open, she shouted down the stairs, “You can come out now!”, which earned a censorious look from an officer at one of the desks nearest her.

A fractured sentence carried Holland’s voice up the stairs from the lab. “— so many favors!”

Tina grinned, but her reply was interrupted by the muffled voice of Verda, whose tone seemed to indicate that shouting up the stairs when he was holding delicate instruments was perhaps not the way he wanted to liven up his weekdays.

Tina laughed, though her grin immediately turned sour at the loud, heavy sigh from Officer Grumpus next to her.

“Not a morning person?” She smiled sweetly at him.

“Just a working person,” the man responded, brows lifted as he stared pointedly at the folder open on his desk.

“It’s Valentine’s Day,” Tina said, as if that should both explain and excuse anything she might do today.

“It’s a workplace.” His voice was an affronted stage whisper.

“Oh, it’s not a library, Dean,” Tina scoffed, moving back to her own desk. “Go grab a chocolate truffle outta the break room or something.”

“Just tell him to check his phone, please.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yes, Mom,” Holland sighed into the phone, the verbal eye-roll only a little affected. She really hadn’t wanted to involve Rebecca, but she was an unfortunately convenient messenger for sending Nate on a scavenger hunt. Even if that meant Holland had been required to voluntarily call her mother.

“I just said I’d drop by the warehouse later with something he left at my apartment, but it looks like I’m gonna be working late, so he’ll either have to come here or potentially wait until tomorrow to get his book back. Well, technically my book that he’s borrowing,” she paused for half a breath, as if distracted by her own rambling.

Normally, she would’ve been inclined to say less rather than let herself babble; even the actual truth tended to sound flimsy when it was tangled up in unnecessary elaborations. Now, though, Holland was banking on her mother taking the scatter-brained chatter as an opportunity to offer her help and thereby chip away at whatever maternal neglect penance she thought she owed the universe or whatever.

Nevermind that he’d had a key to her apartment for months, which he presumably would’ve used this morning since she left before he did, so even if he had left something at her apartment, he could get it himself whether she was there or not. It wasn’t like she jumped at the chance to give Rebecca even more information about her life and who was or was not included in it and to what extent. The whole situation was already so goddamn weird without adding any unnecessary heart-to-hearts with her mother.

“Whatever, listen, doesn’t matter — I was just wondering if you could pass along the message if you see him.”

If Rebecca felt any tremor of surprise — pleased or otherwise — from the sheer volume of information her daughter had just shared with her — as if it were nothing — as if it hadn’t been more words than she’d probably said in a row to her mother in the past month — she kept them from reaching her face.

Carefully. She had to approach this unexpected openness carefully. She couldn’t let herself read too much into this, take it as an indication of progress towards an actual relationship, some half-step forward from the strange, almost-truce they’d established as a byproduct of suddenly, abruptly, seeing so much of each other.

So she said, “Oh. Ah, yes, of course. I’ll let him know. Or, actually,” she paused as if the thought had only just occurred to her, “If you want, I had some errands to run in town this afternoon; I could stop by your office and deliver the book for you if it would be helpful.”

Holland’s mouth twitched: a slight, tentative upward curve that she let filter into her voice. “Oh, really? You don’t have to do that.”

Rebecca tried not to sound too eager. “Really, it’s no trouble. It sounds like you have a lot going on today. I insist: I can be at your office within the hour if that’s all right with your schedule.”

“Thanks again,” Holland said a little while later as she handed the “borrowed” book to her mother. She offered a wry half-grin. “You can tell him my carrier pigeon took PTO this week.”

Rebecca gave a soft laugh, as much out of surprise at the comment as amusement.

“I’m surprised you’re working late tonight,” she said, apparently taking Holland’s joke as an invitation for further conversation.

“Yeah, well, that’s what happens when you wait until the last minute to file things.” Holland shrugged. “I’m used to it.”

“Oh. Well, I just meant since it’s Valentine’s Day. I assumed you’d be…well, that you and Nate had plans.”

Was she prying? Did she seem like she was prying? Maybe she was. Why did she always seem to falter through even the most straightforward conversations with her daughter when she so easily navigated much more treacherous interactions with ease?

Holland’s almost smile faded. “I don’t really do Valentine’s Day. And, anyway, the city council definitely doesn’t. I’ve got half a dozen cases with filing deadlines on the fifteenth. So, you know. Mass-marketed declarations of love don’t really take priority.”

“Ah, right, of course. I can certainly understand.” Rebecca kept her sympathetic hum brief: the kind of noise that offered only polite acknowledgment of a circumstance, rather than the kind that might indicate, for instance, that the speaker was extremely curious to learn whether opposition to “mass-marketed declarations of love” implied that other sorts of such declarations had been made.

It took an annoying amount of willpower for Holland to bite back the instinctive retort. To remind her mother that she was very aware that Rebecca would understand better than most how often work could take priority over petty obligations like loved ones. Instead, she smiled, tight and polite, thanked her mother again for being kind enough to stop by and deliver the book, and excused herself, saying she supposed she should get back to work.

Well. At least that was over with and had gone arguably better than expected — they’d even managed something approaching amicable small talk. Twice, in fact, if you considered the pleasantly neutral phone call earlier. Moreover, she’d even managed to extricate herself from the conversation without her mother taking a moment to register exactly what book she was so eager to lend. Not that she didn’t have half a dozen reasonably plausible explanations ready if pressed; but the less she needed to justify lending Nate what was technically a chemistry textbook, the better.

Holland tried not to dwell on the fact that even in her own head these justifications sounded pathetically flimsy. She was pretty sure emotionally manipulating her mother (even if her mother sucked at being her mother) into essentially running an errand for her was not something a good person would do. Okay, maybe very sure. But she didn’t have time to calculate exactly how much today might have contributed to her quarterly ‘asshole daughter’ quota.

After all, she had a fictitious pile of paperwork to get back to.

As it happened, Rebecca did not actually deliver the book to Nate, but instead to Adam, who was the only one of her team she found when she stopped at the warehouse that afternoon. This was probably for the best: if Rebecca had been mildly surprised at Holland’s apparently immediate need to pass along a borrowed book (on PH indicators, of all things) today rather than at a later time, she would have been positively taken aback by Nate’s reaction to finding it on one of the end tables in the living room, his face awash in what looked for all the world like relief as he scanned the cover.

Adam might also have found the incongruous expression on his friend’s face somewhat puzzling, though it was hard to tell what specific emotion the sharp quirk of his brow was meant to convey, exactly. While he wasn’t remotely surprised to see Nate taken with a book in general, this one looked particularly unremarkable to him.

In fact, the only really noteworthy thing as far as Adam could see was that it did not look like the kind of book about which Nate would get especially excited; when he’d glanced at the title earlier, he’d wondered briefly why something called a handbook of acid-base indicators would be of any interest at all.

Or what, specifically, it might contain that caused Nate’s expression to shift from relief to outright amusement as he read the inside cover.

“It looked like there was a note with it as well,” he said, gesturing with a jerk of his chin toward the book now clasped in Nate’s hands. Indeed, a white letter envelope was half-tucked between the pages towards the back of the book.

“Which I’m forced to assume was misappropriated from the police department’s supply cabinet,” he continued, eyeing the patch of blue on the corner sticking out of the book.

“Very probably,” Nate said, sounding distracted, eyes still on the book as he flipped another page.

“Well, I’ll let you get on with…whatever this is,” he said. “Misuse of office supplies aside, I’m not even going to ask why you seem so interested in, ah --” He glanced at the book cover again. “A book on ‘acid-base indicators’.”

“I don’t know that I have enough information yet to explain it to you even if you wanted to know,” Nate looked up then, smiling at his old friend. “Thank you for passing the book along though.”

Adam made a noise of acknowledgment, face still somewhat dubious as he turned to exit the living room. The second Adam left, Nate pulled open the envelope. This one bore only a simple notecard, upon which was printed:

some roses are red,

bromothymol is blue

congrats: you’ve reached your final clue.

Handwritten beneath the poem, Holland had added:

(and congrats on the knowledge that you won’t have to read any more of these incredibly cheesy cards today - that’s the real win if you ask me.)

Just as in a lab, your next stop has a dress code (though this one’s intended to impress more than protect). See you soon!

Love, your highest-heels-wearing girlfriend (who is somehow still probably half a foot shorter than you)

Nate smiled to himself as he read, although it became more bemused than fond as it registered that there wasn’t actually a clue contained within the note, despite the rhyme’s claim.

He re-read the poem, then the lines written beneath it. Other than hints as to attire — which, from the very limited information contained in the note, didn’t seem to suggest he dress differently from how he’d originally planned — there wasn’t much beyond the “see you soon!”.

Maybe on the back? He flipped the card over. Four lines at the bottom of the card. Maybe —

PS - You totally thought I was going to make you break into a high school science lab with that last clue, didn’t you? I’m a law-abiding community member. And I don’t have time to waste getting you out of it if you got caught - I’ve got more important plans for this evening (as do you).

He couldn’t help exhaling a laugh as he read the additional note scrawled there, even if it offered no further hints as to what these “important plans” might be. He sighed, still smiling, and ran a hand over his hair. Then he looked down at his watch. Well. He still had time to make their original dinner plans.

He turned to retrieve the book from where he’d placed it on the arm of a nearby chair, a half-formed thought scratching at his brain. He flipped the cover open and looked at the stamped label on the first page there, re-reading the imprint that had amused him when he first read it.

That. That was the clue.

Still smiling, he shut the book again with a muted snap and headed out of the room.

Back at her apartment, Holland was pacing. Well, not pacing, exactly: she supposed what she was doing could more accurately be considered wandering, moving in aimless loops from room to room of her small apartment. The wooden floors were smooth and cool beneath her bare feet, though it did little to quell the burning knots of anxiety snaking in intricate loops behind her ribs.

Stupid. This was such an absurdly stupid idea. Ridiculous — and cheesy — and dumb. Why did she think concocting an elaborate goose chase through Wayhaven’s oddest pockets of her own idiosyncrasies for an entire day would be fun for anyone? And, oh Jesus, her clues had been terrible, hadn’t they? They probably hadn’t meant anything to anyone aside from herself. Meaning Nate had probably not figured them out and had either:

1. Given up and was currently wondering why she wasn’t home for the very specific date she’d agreed to. Meaning she was not only weirdly inflexible about a stupid excuse for a holiday that she could have just agreed to go out for because it didn’t actually matter, but she was also accidentally standing him up for a date at her own damned apartment; or,

2. was still attempting to figure out what possible meaning her cryptic notes held because he was clearly far kinder to her than she was to him (because if the situation had been reversed, she would have immediately assumed her notes were nothing more than an indication that her girlfriend was actually the Zodiac Killer)

The idea of either of these (incredibly, in her opinion) probable outcomes made her feel like she was having either acute indigestion or perhaps a mild heart attack.

She smoothed her hands against her sides, resisting the urge to tug at her dress, suddenly very aware of all the places where the fabric hugged her body.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she breathed, spinning to survey her reflection for the absolute last time in the heavy wrought iron mirror propped on the wall next to her front door. Aside from her face, which was currently set in a glower that she suspected looked more pouty six-year-old than threateningly unimpressed, she looked completely fine.

Actually, if she was being honest, she looked better than fine.

The dress was a muted grey-blue, shifting into occasional glints of dulled silver when folds of the loose fabric caught the light, reminding her of a winter river. The washed silk of the fabric contributed to this perception, the fall of it a gentle weight against her skin, the hem rippling smooth and cool against her shins when she moved.

As it had throughout her relentless pacing back and forth across her apartment this evening.

Ridiculous. She was being ridiculous. And this was just a dinner, for Christ’s sake. They’d had so many dinners. If this one happened to have included some amount of advanced planning and scheming on her part, then so be it. A dinner that required surreptitious machinations was nonetheless still fundamentally just a dinner.

She made a face at her reflection, then started at the knock on her door, the noise sparking a bubble of startled adrenaline that dissipated into a hiccup of laughter that was as much from a kind of relief as it was from surprise. Her eyes shifted to the clock on the coffee maker across the way on her kitchen counter. Right on time, as he always was.

Which either meant her clues had not been as completely asinine as she’d thought, or that he knew her well enough to make sense of her bread crumb trail. Either possibility was mildly gratifying (and she was under no obligation to consider whether one possibility perhaps pleased her more than the other).

Though her laugh had faded as abruptly as it had escaped her, her grin remained as she reached for the doorknob, gaze skimming upwards to meet that of the man waiting on the other side of her front door.

“Hi,” she said, stretching up onto her tiptoes for a kiss, palms pressed flat against Nate’s chest for balance. He readily leaned down to oblige her, one hand lifting to cup her face, the other coming to rest against the small of her back.

“Hi,” he replied when she rolled back onto the balls of her feet, returning her smile. She smoothed her hands down the front of his shirt before she moved to step back, then paused with a puzzled half-laugh as she realized belatedly that the hand resting against her spine was not, in fact, empty.

Nate pulled his arm back between them, holding a book out to her. “I believe this belongs to you.”

Holland’s grin widened as she took the proffered paperback. “I love that you bring me books instead of flowers,” she quipped, stepping back to let him in and setting the book on the small wooden bench next to her door.

“I don’t know that giving you your own books back to you counts,” he remarked, following her as she padded further into her living room.

“Besides,” he added, “You don’t like flowers.” His smile turned teasing as his gaze skated down the veritable garden inked onto her arms before returning to her face. “Somehow.”

“I love flowers,” she said sweetly, perching on an arm of the sofa and leaning forward a bit, tips of her fingers pressing into the fabric on either side of her hips. “That’s why I want them to live long lives where they’re planted instead of spending two days dying on my kitchen table. Books last longer.”

“Not with you they don’t.”

“Please, you read way faster than I do,” she scoffed, then held up a hand as he opened his mouth to respond. “I know, I know: you’ve had more time to practice. I’m just saying, it is achingly unfair that you get to be both the pretty one and the smart one in this relationship.”

Nate laughed aloud then, stepping closer to her and reaching to tip her face up with one warm brown hand, long fingers tangling in the hair at her nape. He rubbed his thumb along her bottom lip, a gentle tug at the half-formed pout. Still laughing softly, he bent to kiss her. Any lingering purse of dissatisfaction on her mouth softened as she opened for him, leaning into the warm, gentle caress of his lips against hers. She felt that delicious warmth spread as the kiss deepened, her hands lifting from the couch to snake beneath his suit jacket and around his waist as his free hand ghosted slowly up her thigh before coming to rest against her hip.

“The absolute injustice,” Holland murmured into the scant space between them when she finally pulled back, bumping her nose against his with a breath of a laugh.

“My love, we might have to agree to disagree on both counts,” Nate replied, thumbing gentle circles across her hip bone, the warmth of his hand seeping through the silk of her dress, which suddenly felt like a barrier both impossibly flimsy and yet impassable beneath that warm weight. “Particularly if we’re taking today into account. Bromothymol? Really?”

She didn’t need to see his face to know precisely which shade of teasing smile he was giving her, so she didn’t, choosing instead to press further against him, nestling her face against the column of his throat. He hadn’t worn a tie, choosing instead to leave the topmost buttons of his immaculate white shirt undone, and it seemed like an unacceptable waste not to take advantage of the tanned expanse of skin begging to be kissed.

“Bromothymol is blue,” she said into the hollow of his collarbone, lips curving into a satisfied smile at the noise he made in response, the way the hand on her hip tightened. “Violets are, overwhelmingly, violet.”

He made a breathy sound somewhere between a groan and a laugh, slowly tilting his head back down to look at her like it was simultaneously the hardest and easiest thing in the world: to pull any distance away from her — to look into her face.

“If I am meant to have an epithet in this relationship, I would argue I’m the lucky one,” he murmured, fingers stroking along the side of her neck.

“Sweet talker,” she chided gently, one corner of her mouth crooking upward in a fond grin. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”

She raised one hand to cover the one he still had resting against her neck. “Except apparently out of my apartment.” She squeezed his hand gently then released it, rising from her sofa arm perch and moving to sidle past him. “And if we keep doing this I’m going to find it harder to remember we’ve got places to be.”

She turned to move further into the apartment, tossing a smile over one shoulder as she started down the hallway towards her bedroom. “As soon as I put on shoes.”

He followed her down the hall, leaning against her door frame as she disappeared behind the open door of her closet, hands sliding into his pockets. “What kinds of places have we got to be?”

“You’ll see,” she called from inside the closet.

“No more secret messages or clues, then?” Oh, he would probably be forever teasing her about today, even if he did sound intrigued by the apparent endpoint of this adventure.

“Nope,” she said with a little popping finality on the word, her voice light.

“I lied, by the way,” she said as she emerged from her closet, a jacket draped over her bare shoulders, balancing on one stilettoed foot while she wiggled her other foot into the remaining boot. “These aren’t my highest heels. Those would be impractical.”

“Impractical for what, exactly?” Nate asked, looking equal parts bemused and intrigued as he followed her back out into the hallway and out of her apartment.

“Impractical for how many flights of stairs I’m willing to climb in them,” she said with a half-smile.

He raised his brows in silent question as if to ask: Stairs to where?

But Holland only arched one back at him and said again, “You’ll see,” reaching to twine her fingers through his.

Nate followed Holland up four flights of stairs, the last of which was behind a smaller metal door on the uppermost landing, separated from the rest of the walk-up’s old stone staircases. At the top of this separate, narrower staircase lay another metal door, which Holland pushed open with the gentle scraping sound of resistance as if the door hadn’t been opened much recently. Hand still linked with his, she pulled them both out onto a garden terrace on the roof of the building.

Though Holland privately suspected the so-called green roof was more greenwashed marketing than anything — and a fine excuse to increase her rent — she couldn’t say she didn’t enjoy the space. Especially on evenings like this, when the air smelled like the promise of spring, and the chill of a February night had lost much of its bite in the wake of the mild weather they’d been having lately. There was a gentle breeze, but it was only just strong enough to send the perfume of the garden’s flowering wintersweet and viburnum rippling past every so often from where the blooms spilled out of the neat rows of wide-planked wooden planter boxes lining the outside walls of the rooftop’s main attraction.

At the roof’s center, occupying the lion’s share of space, stood a greenhouse, all glazed glass panes and dark metalwork framing. Though the entirety of the terrace was well-lit by the combined efforts of evenly spaced pathway lights, moonlight, and the surrounding trickle of the town’s light pollution, these paled in comparison to the twinkling spectacle of the glass building in their midst.

Although inside it would undoubtedly be diffuse and gentle as firelight, the soft white light of the hanging lamps inside the greenhouse shone in striking contrast to the surrounding night sky. Where the dark lines of the building’s frame formed arches and trellises, vining plants were interspersed with winding strands of fairy lights, glimmering and winking where their light caught the streaks of condensation along the glazed glass walls and roof.

Whatever outside chill might be present, whatever breeze might be amplified by the height of the roof, would be nonexistent within the warmth that beckoned inside that greenhouse, where Holland knew the air would be warm and sweet, redolent with the fragrant plants within.

And with the undoubtedly mouthwatering aromas from the menu she had barely had to ask Haley to help coordinate for this evening. Between her and Tina, she had some really, really good friends, she thought with a swell of gratitude before turning her mind back to the present moment.

She breathed in the sharp wintry air and twisted to watch Nate as he took in the scene. When he finally turned to look at her, dark eyes warm and bright, she grinned. “Tell me again how much I don’t like flowers?”

Nate laughed then, a rumble of sheer, rich delight that was a song in her veins as he pulled her to him and swept her up in a kiss before the laughter had fully died from his lips.

When he finally released her, he was no longer laughing, though his smile remained. “I’ll tell you how much I love you,” he offered, hands cradling her face as he studied the features, the person, that had become so impossibly precious to him. Marveled as he watched her face, cheeks already pink from the chill night air, flush with pleasure, the scant smattering of pale freckles that dusted her nose vanishing beneath the rosy glow, at the knowledge that he could so easily draw such reactions from her — that she could so affect him, too, perhaps more easily than she knew.

Nate often wondered if she really understood the true extent of her hold on him — if she registered the power she wielded with the slightest quirk of her brow or her mouth (her delightful, wicked mouth and the things she said with it, the things she did with it), curving into the wry grin that had come to seem so quintessentially Holland and, thus, so necessary to him.

That teasing smile curled at the corner of her mouth now as she looked up at him, green eyes gleaming in the low light. “A little off-topic, but nonetheless acceptable response,” she said, grin widening. “Now, c’mon. I believe I agreed to dinner as an acceptable Valentine’s compromise.” She covered his hands with her own, sliding them down from her face, then tilted her head towards the greenhouse.

“I don’t remember the dinner you agreed to remotely resembling this,” Nate remarked as they crossed the terrace.

Her heels clicked along the flagstone pavers lining the paths between rows of flowerbeds and the smattering of fruit trees the building’s owner had planted years ago. “Hey, I think this very much qualifies as ‘quiet and intimate’,” she pointed out. “I mean, I guess you could get more intimate, but you might lose out on some of the quiet then, so,” she gave a light laugh.

“Holland.” He tugged gently at her wrist as they entered the sweet-scented warmth of the greenhouse, struck once more at the obvious care and planning that she’d put into tonight, into celebrating a holiday towards which she had always seemed overwhelmingly ambivalent.

Because he cared about it.

Because what she cared about was him.

For him. All of this, for him. Even though he’d been absolutely fine with the idea of lowkey. Even if he would’ve been absolutely fine if they hadn’t done anything at all. Even though she knew he would have been perfectly willing to scrap the idea of Valentine’s Day, this year or in general, if she really thought it was a waste of time.

Because it wasn’t that significant to him. He liked it, sure, and he liked romantic gestures and the intentionality of dates that were meant to feel special, luxuries that carved out pockets of the extraordinary from the otherwise ordinary moments that made up a life with another person. But those moments could be pulled from any of the million tiny motions of ordinary love. It didn’t actually matter if they happened in observation of a particular holiday or not.

But because he did still like it — the celebrating, the romance, the little rituals of it — even if it wasn’t necessarily important, she treated it as if it was important.

Because what was important to her was him.

She paused and turned to look at him, head tilted in silent question.

“I —” he stopped, surprised to feel at a loss for words. He swallowed, then started again, settling on, “Thank you,” even though it didn’t feel completely adequate.

“No one has ever done anything like this for me,” Nate continued, voice soft. “Ever.” He felt the thrumming little jump in her pulse where his fingers still encircled her wrist, even as she immediately moved to dismiss it.

“I’m very confident this is not even in the top ten nicest dinners you’ve ever attended,” she said, though her smile felt a little stiffer than she’d intended. “Especially considering how many dinners might be in your sense of ‘ever’.”

He tightened his grip on her wrist, a gentle emphatic squeeze. “This is not just a dinner. And even if it were,” he pressed, as she opened her mouth to respond, “it would still be — by far — the best gift I have ever received.”

A lie. Or at least not the entire truth, he thought. The greatest gift wasn’t the dinner, or the planning, or the trail of offbeat bread crumbs that had led him right back to her door as if he’d needed that guidance. She — this willful, irreverent, unfailingly kind woman — was the real gift.

“A scavenger hunt that included an abandoned building and my mother is the best gift you’ve ever gotten? If you say so.” Another sharp cock of one brow, the curl of a smile meant to be teasing, but… her eyes were a little too bright and serious to carry the play at nonchalance with any conviction.

She wondered if it were possibly, improbably true — not that it hadn’t taken effort on her part, and more than a bit of planning, but still. It was meant to be a nice surprise, the kind of silly, romantic gesture that would mean something to him, something more than it might otherwise have to her, but…it wasn’t really that big a deal, was it?

And if it was, then…

When, in his long, immortal life, had he last felt cherished? And how much time had he spent ensuring that those he cared about did?

“I do say so,” he smiled at her. “So, thank you.”

And because she wasn’t sure what to do with the tightness in her chest (which could, after all, merely be the heart attack or indigestion she had suspected earlier in the evening), she said only, “Well…you’re welcome,” without any of her usual catalog of teasing or dismissive commentary.

Later, over the remains of a dessert so obscenely luscious that Holland had briefly considered asking Nate if he would be extremely bothered by her proposing to Haley if only so she could have it whenever she wanted (i.e., every day for the rest of forever), Nate asked, “So, should I be expecting any additional surprises or mysterious hints this evening?”

Holland lifted one shoulder, then glanced down at her bare forearms, having discarded her jacket earlier in the warmth of the heated greenhouse. “I think I’d need sleeves to have any further tricks stashed away.” Her smile would have been believably charming if not for the arch glint in her eyes, a shimmer of playful challenge that he’s not sure he could help answering, even if he wanted to.

“Something tells me you would be perfectly fine with or without sleeves,” he said, and though his voice was mild, the midnight-dark promise that sparked in his own eyes was decidedly, wonderfully not.

Holland arched a brow, reaching her fork across to spear a lone raspberry off his plate and pop it into her mouth, then said, her smile a wicked flash of teeth, “You’ll see.”

#did i mention i was Back On My Bullshit?#bc i am very back on it. pure clownery.#the way i really did give myself permission to go full self-indulgence here #love that for me #twc #the wayhaven chronicles #katie writes things #oc: holland townsend #ship: your entire heart

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starshine583 · 3 years

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New Girl on the Block (18)

(Hey, everyone! I have an announcement to make! After posting this chapter, I am going to be taking a temporary leave due to family matters. They’re fun family matters, so don’t worry! but they will prevent me from writing any further chapters at this time. I plan to post the next chapter on June 27th. Sorry for the long wait! That’s just how things worked out, but I hope I’ll get to see you all then, and please enjoy this new update! Feel free to check out the mini series connected to this called Journal Entries!)

Ch. 1 / Ch. 17 / Ch. 19 (ao3)

Chapter 18: It’s the Little Moments

Felix grumbled to himself as he picked up his tie to pull it around his neck. Valentine’s Day parties were bad enough already with all of the love-sick couples that tended to crowd around him throughout the evening. Did he really have to further his torment by dressing up as well? His previous suit was perfectly fine for an event such as this. Fashionable, sleek, formal- there was no reason to change. Especially when it came to this ridiculous, unseemly-

“Oh, lighten up.” His mother told him, shooing his hands away so she could tie the tie herself. “It’s just a Valentine’s Day suit, and you’re wearing it for one night. There’s no need to scowl over it. I’m sure the other boys will be wearing some form of pink too.”

Felix scoffed. “Mother, don’t patronize me. You know I don’t care about the pink color. It’s the fact that you’re dressing me up to match the theme.”

Bridgette eyed him. “And? You’re supposed to match the theme for parties. That’s why it’s called a theme.”

“But if I match the theme, other girls at the party will probably think I approve of the theme too.” Felix argued. “And then they’ll be asking me to dance or trying to talk with me in general. I’ll have to spend the entire evening trying to shoo them off.”

A laugh tumbled from his mother’s lips. “Aw~, it must be so exhausting having all of the girls fall in love with you.”

Felix shot her a flat look. “Would you want to spend an evening rejecting people?”

Bridgette tilted her head in a nod. “I’ll give you that one, but you know Allegra could always scare them off if they become too overbearing.”

Felix blew out a relenting sigh. He supposed that was true.

“Besides, even if the girls are chasing you, you still need to look nice Marinette, don’t you?”

Felix furrowed his eyebrows, confused. “No? Marinette’s not going to care what I look like, so long as I’m not a fashion disaster, that is.”

Which, in this suit, he might very well be, to be honest. Perhaps he should text her a warning.

“I thought you two were supposed to be going on a fake date tonight.” His mother replied, tugging lightly on Felix’s tie to straighten it.

Felix’s gaze snapped to her. “Where did you hear that?”

Bridgette chuckled, offering him a teasing glance as she said, “Oh, please. You know Allegra and I talk.”

Felix tisked and rolled his shoulders, making sure his suit wasn’t too tight. Of course Allegra would mention that ridiculous suggestion to his mother. Those two loved to gossip together, specifically about him.

“Well, we’re not.” He remarked, leveling out the annoyance in his tone. “That was just some frivolous idea that Claude came up with the other day.”

“Really? I thought the idea sounded rather exciting.”

Felix resisted the urge to scoff again. Her too? “Why on earth would it be exciting? You galivant around with someone, probably doing the exact same thing you would do with them on a normal basis, but you call it a ‘fake date’ for what? A good laugh when someone assumes you’re a real couple? I can’t wrap my brain around the reasoning.”

Another chuckle came from Bridgette. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t, but consider this: If you and Marinette pretend you’re dating for the evening, you might not have so many girls coming to ask you for a dance.”

Felix paused, his eyes widening slightly. That.. actually wasn’t such a bad idea. He might even consider it if the thought of asking Marinette didn’t sound so incredibly arrogant. ‘Would you mind being my fake date to help me escape the supposed hoards of girls who are going to chase after me tonight?’ You can’t convince him that that proposal didn’t sound anything less than tacky. She’d probably tease him about it the whole night.

“If it bothers you so much, though,” his mother spoke again, “why not ask Marinette out on a real date?”

Felix sputtered a bit at the comment, blurting out a bewildered, “Excuse me?”

Don’t get him wrong, Marinette was an extraordinary person and anyone who ended up with her would undoubtedly be lucky, but the very thought of him asking her out on a date felt.. strange. He couldn’t imagine asking her for anything more than what she was giving him right now, and he didn’t think there was anything she’d want from him when it came to a relationship anyway. Their dynamic was comfortable as it was. Why should they try to complicate things?

“Alright, alright, I was just asking.” his mother assured, almost seeming to laugh as she did. “You two are only friends. I understand.”

Something about the smile in her eyes told him that she didn’t understand, but he simply glanced to the side, electing to ignore it. Arguing wouldn’t change her mind either way, and in the end it was just a question. His friendship with Marinette wasn’t going to change over it, because neither of them harbored romantic feelings for each other. He was perfectly content to keep it that way.

~~~~~~

Marinette stood in front of her vanity mirror, twisting her hair into a side ponytail for the fifth time that evening. She’d spent the last hour trying over and over again to perfect the hairstyle, but she could never seem to get it right. The ponytail was always too lopsided or too messy or the braid tied into it would begin to unwind. Now, the ponytail was tied tightly enough, but the braid was crooked, and there were too many stray hairs flying around for it to look neat. How can she still be struggling after practicing this for an hour?

“Ugh! I give up!” She huffed, throwing her hands down and staring ruefully at her nearly knotted locks. This is what she gets for taking the easy route and always putting her hair in pigtails. “I’m just going to stay home.”

“No, don’t do that!” Tikki quickly spoke up, flying to her holder’s side. “You’ve worked too hard on your dress to stay home! And your hair really doesn’t look all that bad. I’m sure no one will think twice about it.”

Marinette tisked, plopping into her rolling chair and crossing her arms. “But I’ll think about it, Tikki, and I’ll be more self-conscious than I was going to be before.”

Tonight wasn’t just a Valentine’s Day party for Marinette. That was mainly what it was, of course, but she also saw it as a sort of debut. With the amount of time she spent hanging around Allegra and Claude and the others, she hadn’t had time to truly meet her other classmates at Rosemary, but tonight, they would all be gathered together for her convenience and she would finally have a chance to introduce herself to the school as a whole. It was exhilarating.. and a tad frightening. She’d seen plenty of students in passing that appeared to be less than friendly. How were they going to react to her? Were they going to be as sweet as her current friends? Or did she happen to run into the best group in the school first? There was no telling.

“Try not to overthink it.” Her kwami said softly, though they both knew she would. “Why don’t you try a different hairstyle?”

“Because I don’t know any other hairstyles.” Marinette sighed. “Well.. I know a bun, I guess, but I really wanted this hairstyle for tonight. I feel like it would really bring the dress together, you know?”

“It would.” Tikki agreed. “And it does. But if you think you can’t figure it out-”

“Marinette! Felix is here to pick you up!”

Panic seized Marinette’s chest at the call, and she leapt out of her chair to look in the mirror again. Felix was there already? The party wasn’t for another thirty minutes! Why did he always have to be early?

“Uh- j-just a second, Maman!” She called back, frantically trying to straighten her braid and smooth the wisps of hair around her ponytail. It didn’t work, unfortunately, so she threw a silver pin in her hair as a last ditch effort and made her way downstairs, trying not to whimper too much.

“Oh, Marinette, you look wonderful!” Her mother cooed as Marinette descended the stairs. “I need to go get Tom. Oh, and a camera!”

Marinette pulled a wince. They were going to have photo evidence of this failure of a hairstyle?

“Maman, are you sure that’s necessary? I get dressed up like this all the time.” She tried to dissuade, but Sabine merely waved off her comment.

“Of course it is! This is your first party at Rosemary. We must have pictures.”

“Best be prepared.” A voice cut in, catching Marinette’s attention immediately. “Claude will undoubtedly be thinking the same thing when we arrive.”

Marinette turned towards the front door with a smile, but a gasp escaped her when she saw Felix standing there. She knew it would be him, of course. She simply hadn’t expected him to be wearing a different outfit.

“You..” She paused, briefly wondering if it would be rude to finish, then continued, “you changed your suit.”

Logically, she knew he had more than one suit. No one can wear the same suit forever, and Felix seemed to be too proper to do it even if he could. However, when he didn’t wear his usual suit, he continued to maintain the black and grey color scheme, so it never quite stuck with her that he’d changed. Tonight, though, his suit was entirely red, so deep a red that she might acquate it with blood, and he had a wonderfully pink tie on, along with a pink cloth folded in his front vest pocket to complement it. The sight nearly knocked her off her feet. He was even matching the party’s theme! She didn’t think he cared for things such as that.

A smirk ghosted Felix’s lips, and he nodded. “Yes, courtesy of my mother. I see you changed your hair as well.”

A blush crept across her cheeks, and Marinette reached up to feel how horrible the hairstyle was again. Here Felix was, doing his best and looking great as always, and she was just standing there looking like a mess. Typical.

“O-Oh, yeah, I mean.. I tried to change it. I don’t think it worked out too well..” She muttered, glancing down at the ground. Maybe she still had time to take it out before they left?

Felix’s footsteps brought her gaze back upwards, and she watched him cross the room to her. His eyes were squinted ever-so-slightly, the way they always were when he was pondering something, and once he was close enough, he reached out, his hand lightly tracing over the side braid she’d attempted.

Marinette stood still, allowing him to ‘examine’ her for a moment before saying, “It’s awful, isn’t it? I couldn’t get anything to stay where it was supposed to.”

Felix hummed absently, bringing his hand down to let the tip of her ponytail slide off of his fingertips. “No, not awful. If you practice a few more times, I’m sure it would be perfect.”

Marinette blew out a small sigh. That meant it wasn’t perfect now.

“Do you have the reference you used? If I see it, I might be able to straighten the braid out before we leave at least.” Felix inquired, causing Marinette’s eyes to widen. Oh?

“You know how to do hair?”

“Not quite,” he admitted, “but I learned some of the basics during a few sleepovers. For some reason, Claude and Allegra thought it important that I had a decent grasp on the subject.”

A smile came to Marinette’s lips. That sounded like something they would do. “And you think you can fix my hairstyle from your limited knowledge?”

“Possibly, if you have reference,” Felix smirked, “but it’s alright if you prefer to keep what you have.”

“Oh no, please.” Marinette said, quickly pulling her phone out of her heart shaped purse. “Anything’s probably better than what I have in now. Are you sure we have time, though?”

Felix nodded. “I always leave around ten or fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, so we should have plenty of time.”

Marinette nodded as well and opened the reference video she’d used for her hairstyle. Felix took the phone from her and watched it once or twice as she pulled out the pins in her hair. Then, when everything was down again, Felix handed the phone back to her and let it play in her hands for a third time while he set to work. His fingers brushed through her hair, carefully separating the different locks and tying them together. The feeling behind it was quite strange, mostly because she could hardly feel it at all. His hands were so gentle, so cautious that even when he had to tug on her hair to tighten the braid, it seemed as light as a cloud. Felix was always soft like that. He spoke harshly to others and liked to scowl often, but when it came to his actions, she couldn’t recall a single time he’d been rough.

Recently, she’s been hearing that secret softness in his voice too, and it never failed to make her smile.

“Aw, did her hair fall out?”

Sabine’s voice brought the two’s gaze to the living room doorway. She was standing there with Tom, a camera in her hands and a slight, disappointed frown on her lips.

“No, I took it out.” Marinette assured over her shoulder. “Felix offered to do the hairdo himself so it would look better.”

“Oh, how gentlemanly of him.” Tom chimed in with a satisfied smile.

“Do you mind if I get a picture?” Sabine requested, prepping the camera in her hands.

“Uh..” Marinette looked to Felix as best she could. “Are you okay with that?”

“I don’t mind.” Felix shrugged. “Mother already bombarded me with pictures before I left. What’s a few more?”

Marinette chuckled. “You said she was the one who gave you the suit right?”

“No, she’s the one who made me wear it.” Felix corrected. “Something about having to match the theme.”

“Ah, I see.” Marinette said. She should have known Felix wouldn’t throw away his black and grey color scheme willingly. “She has great taste. You’ll have to let me meet her sometime so I can tell her ‘thank you’.”

A playful scoff passed his lips and brushed against her ear. “You know, I’m sure she would be delighted to do just that.”

*Click!*

The camera flash brought the two’s attention back to Sabine and Tom, who were both holding giddy smiles at this point.

“I think you both look fantastic.” Tom grinned. “Those boys will be falling over each other to get to Marinette tonight, I’m sure.”

Felix hummed as he twisted her hair to pin it into a side ponytail, muttering, “I quite agree.”

The comment was soft and absent, and it sent a blush exploding across Marinette’s face. That’s the second time he’s agreed to her being pretty and a supposed ‘boy magnet’. Does he ever think about what he’s saying or is it just some logical fact to him that shouldn’t mean anything? She’s not sure which one she prefers.

“Done.”

Felix’s hands fell back to his sides, and Marinette reached up to feel the hairstyle- gently, though, so as not to mess it up. The pull of the bobby pins was comfortable and tight, and her braid felt nice and straight as she grazed her fingers over it. Overall, it felt perfect, which was exactly what she’d wanted.

“Thanks, Felix.” She said, offering him a quick smile as she checked the reflection in her phone. “It looks great. You’re a life-saver.”

“And you two are going to be late if you don’t hurry up.” Her maman cut in. “Now gather together for a picture so we can send you off.”

Marinette rolled her eyes with a smile and tucked her phone back in her purse, then turned to stand next to Felix. He, in turn, straightened slightly next to her and clasped his hand behind his back for the picture.

“Alright, say cheese!” Sabine coaxed, holding up her camera.

The pair smiled. “Cheese!”

*Click!*

~~~~~~~

Claude’s grin stretched from ear to ear as he watched his fellow Rosemary students pile into the Mandarin Oriental. As usual, people of all shapes and sizes were here. The ‘cool’ kids, the music kids, the nerd kids, the geeks, the dancers- anyone and everyone who had a popular status at the school, along with a good group of others who counted as the stalking crowd. The younger, less-popular students who tended to follow the social hierarchies like loyal dogs. The ‘baby paparazzis’, if you will. They were all crowding inside with an urgency that only his- and Allegra and Allan and Marinette and Felix’s -parties could bring. Soon, Marinette and Felix will be there as well, and then the fun will really begin.

“Alright, Marinette just texted.” Allegra spoke up behind him. She was currently hovering around the buffet table to ensure the punch drinks were being dispersed properly. Claude, of course, was hovering around Allegra in case she needed his help with anything.

“She said they’re parking now.” His ‘fake date’ continued, glancing over her phone screen as she re-read the text. “You remember what to do, right?”

Claude huffed out a playful scoff, reaching for the platter of shrimp as he replied, “Of course I do. Take her onto the dance floor to help her get comfortable in the ‘party atmosphere’, convince her to dance with Felix while you convince Felix to dance with her, and-”

Allegra slapped his hand, coaxing a yelp from the brunette.

“Don’t touch the shrimp until the other guests have some first.” She scolded.

Claude rubbed his hand with a pout. So touchy. Why should he have to wait for the guests to eat? If they wanted shrimp, they should come up and get some. Why can’t he have the food that he helped pay for? (Well, the food that his parents helped pay for.)

“And keep your voice down too.” Allegra added, flipping her hair over her shoulder when it fell in the way. Wearing it in a half-up-half-down style wasn’t nearly as convenient as her casual braid, but he had to admit, the free curls that fell around her shoulders were extremely nice. “Do you know the amount of people here who would love to get their grubby little hands on the fact that we’re trying to set stubborn, stuck-up, stone-faced Felix with the new, cotton-candy-sweet, bakery-girl Marinette? The gossip would reach both of them within seconds.”

“Yeah, it probably would.” He agreed. “But at least they’ll both know they like each other then. Saves us the trouble, right?”

Allegra shot him a flat look, meaning he probably said something wildly inaccurate again.

“Claude, the only gossip that would be spreading would be the fact that we’re trying to get them together. Not that they like each other. How do you think Felix is going to react when he realizes we’re playing matchmaker? What about Marinette? I think they’d probably be a little uncomfortable considering neither of them probably think that the other person likes them. Which is why we decided to be subtle about this in the first place.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yes, it does.” Allegra said, crossing her arms. “So keep your voice down when talking about it from now on, please.”

Claude nodded, leaning back on the buffet table as he faced the crowd again. “Sure, sorry.”

This was going to be a tough evening, trying to get Marinette and Felix together while not blurting the scheme out to the world. He just felt like everything would be easier if they simply talked to each other about it openly. But Allegra was more perceptive than he was. She probably knew things he didn’t about the situation. So he’ll go along with her plan and hope it works out.

Besides, this way he gets to mess with Felix as much as he wants. And he won’t get scolded, this time!

And if everything does work out, Marinette and Felix will be all the happier for it.

Win-win-win-win.

“Hey, guys.” Allan spoke up, joining them at the table and swiping a shrimp. “Do you know if Felix and Marinette are here yet? I haven’t seen them.”

Allegra opened her mouth to scold him about the shrimp as she had Claude, but Allan popped it into his mouth before she could. Claude held back a snort, watching Allegra purse her lips in annoyance. If he couldn’t have a shrimp, at least Allan got one.

“They’re on their way up now.” The blonde replied with narrowed eyes, unbeknownst to Allan. “They just parked a few minutes ago.”

“Cool. We’re still having Claude do his thing, right?”

“Yep.” Claude said, a devilish grin spreading across his lips. “And I am so ready to cause mischief.”

Allegra snorted and lightly nudged him in the arm. “Not too much mischief. This is supposed to be romantic, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Claude waved her off. “I’ll get them to be romantic. After I get to mess with them.”

“Claude-”

“Oh- there they are! Hey, guys!”

Claude perked up at the interruption, the familiar voice drawing his gaze to the front of the Mandarin Oriental. It was the very voice they’d been waiting for, and the source wasn’t hard to find.

Marinette and Felix were making their way through the crowd towards them, Marinette clearly excited as she waved them down with a bright smile. The designer dress she was wearing looked fantastic, as Felix had predicted, and the hearts littering it matched the theme perfectly. She even had her hair all done up tonight! (Which really brought out the elegance of the dress, in his opinion.) An outfit like that was only going to make his job of setting up a romantic thought process between the two that much easier.

(Of course, with the way Felix was staring at Marinette right now, Claude had a feeling that that thought process might already be set up.)

“Hey!” he greeted, meeting the pair halfway to give Marinette a hug. Was it the flowers on the table or did this girl actually smell like roses tonight? Did she use a special perfume? Oh, Allegra was going to love this.

“You two look awesome! I was starting to think you’d never get here.” He teased, stepping back again to get a better view of her face. She decided to go with a pinker shade of lipstick tonight, along with a glittering, light pink eyeshadow, and it’s a wonder that Felix hasn’t collapsed from swooning at this point. (Though maybe Claude can catch that when the two dance later. The video footage would be priceless!)

Marinette let out a light laugh, touching the tip of her side ponytail with a sheepish smile. “Yeah, sorry about that. Felix was helping me with my hair.”

“Aw, Felix!” Allegra cooed, coming up behind Claude just then to join them. “You did Marinette’s hair? It looks lovely.”

“I knew those lessons would come in handy.” Claude smirked.

“Yes, who would’ve guessed?” Felix muttered, briefly rolling his eyes, but Claude wasn’t fooled. He could hear the almost airy tone to Felix’s voice, see his eyes soften anytime he so much as glanced at Marinette. That guy had probably been ecstatic to do Marinette’s hair, and he just didn’t want to show it.

He would, though.. Soon enough.

“Hey, guys.” Allan chimed in, finally joining them as well. “You both look great. I haven’t seen Felix wear that dark of red in a while.”

“Or red in general.” Allegra remarked with a smile.

“Or pink.” Claude added, eyeing Felix’s shirt sleeves. “Actually, I haven’t seen you wear anything besides gray or black since Marinette had you wear that green, plaid shirt after the ‘flour incident’.”

“In other words.. Your mom made you wear that, didn’t she?” Allegra asked lightheartedly.

“Of course she did.” Felix said. “Why else would I wear it?”

“Well, I imagine you’d just want to look nice.” Claude joked, wrapping his arm around Felix’s shoulders and ignoring the blond’s scowl. “Either way, remind your mom how awesome she is for me when you get home.”

“I’m sure she already knows.” Felix replied curtly, shoving Claude’s arm off of him again.

A giggle brought Claude’s attention back to Marinette, who was now observing the party with sparkling interest.

“Everything looks incredible, you guys!” She nearly squealed. “The lights, the flowers, the food.. But I thought the party started at six. Did I get the times mixed up again?”

“No, it does- er, did.” Claude said. “People just get excited and like to get in as soon as they can.”

“Oh.” Marinette muttered, relief smoothing out her features. “So we’re not late?”

“Not at all. In fact..” Claude swept into a bow, offering his hand to her with a grin. “We were just about to start the dancing. Would you mind giving me the honors?”

A surprised laugh fell from Marinette’s lips. “Me? I thought Allegra was your ‘fake date’ for the evening.”

“She is, but I have to save the best for last, right?” Claude threw a wink at Allegra, who also let out a laugh and rolled her eyes. The slight blush on the her cheeks gave her away, though, and it caused his grin to widen.

Marinette gave an “Aw~.” and slipped her hand into his. “Well, in that case, I’d be delighted to dance with you.”

“Great!” Claude cheered, pulling her close.

They glided onto the dance floor, quickly catching the attention of the room, and with that, the first part of the plan fell into place. Claude was dancing with Marinette. Now he needed to convince her to dance with Felix.

Out of the corner of his eye, Claude could already see Felix starting to flounder. He simply stood there, quietly watching them dance with that neutral expression of his and occasionally looking elsewhere. Without Marinette to anchor him in a room of people, the blond would no doubt resort to being a wallflower again and wander over to some corner. A nice, hidden corner where Allegra could easily- and discreetly -convince Felix to dance with Marinette. They all knew him too well.

“Are we the only ones dancing?” Marinette asked, bringing Claude’s attention back to her.

“For now,” he confirmed, “but someone has to start it, right? Look, they’re already joining in.”

“I guess that’s true..” Marinette said, glancing at the few couples that had indeed started to join them. “I don’t normally dance all that much, to be honest. So it’s a little weird for me to be the one starting it for once.”

Claude laughed and took a step back to spin her around. “Really? You’re a natural at it!”

“Oh, thanks. That’s a relief to hear.” Marinette smiled, hobbling into a spin.

“Course. But you know who else is a natural at it?”

Marinette hummed. “Let me guess.. Is it you?”

Claude snorted. “Well, duh, but I was actually talking about Felix.”

Marinette’s eyes widened. “Felix?”

“Yeah! He takes waltzing classes at the school and everything, but he never dances! Can you believe it?”

A chuckle passed Marinette’s lips. “Kind of. This is Felix we’re talking about. Maybe his mom wanted him to take dance lessons like she wanted him to wear that tuxedo.”

“Maybe.. But it’s still a shame to waste such carefully crafted skills. You should try to get him to dance tonight.”

Marinette snorted. “Oh? And who would I get him to dance with? He doesn’t like getting close to random people.”

Claude hummed. “Now, that’s a question, isn’t it? Who should dance with Felix tonight..”

He made a show of looking around the dance floor as he and Marinette waltzed in a circle, then looked back to her. “..Why don’t you dance with him?”

Marinette nearly tripped over her own two feet at the suggestion, and Claude had to hold back a smile. Was she getting flustered? That’s a good sign.

“You want me to.. Are you sure he’d be comfortable with that? I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even want to dance.”

“Come on, who else could get Felix to dance?” Claude insisted. “He’ll say yes if it’s you, and we can’t let him be a wallflower forever.”

Marinette let out a soft laugh, looking quite bashful as a blush curled onto her cheeks, and she glanced over at Felix. He was already standing next to the wall near the punch bowl, looking idle as he watched the dancing crowd.

“I don’t know, Claude. I think he rather enjoys being a wallflower.”

Claude chuckled. “Just say you’ll try? At the very least, it’ll make Allegra happy to see Felix out and about.”

Marinette turned her attention back to him and smiled. “..Alright. I guess I’ll try, but no promises about actually getting him to dance.”

“Deal.” Claude grinned. Mission success!

“On an entirely different note, though, your dress is incredible. You made that yourself, right?”

Marinette brightened and nodded. “Yes, I did! I had lots of fun with it so I’m glad you guys like it.”

“Aw, I’m pretty sure I’d like anything you make. You always put a cool twist on things.” Claude smiled. “By the way, how’s my prince suit coming along? Have you started it yet?”

“I have! It’s actually pretty close to being done. I’m on the ‘details’ stage.”

A gasp of delight escaped him. He hadn’t realized how close she was to finishing it!

“Oh, sweet! You’re gonna have to come over to my house when you finish it. We can even have a mini-fashion show for you!”

Marinette giggled. “That sounds like a blast.”

“Yes!” Claude briefly let go of Marinette’s waist to pump his fist. “Man, am I glad you came to Rosemary. I mean, not just because of the prince suit- even though that is pretty awesome -but also because you’re a fun person to be around, ya know? Everyone thinks so.”

“Really?” Marinette’s steps lagged slightly, clearly taken aback by the statement. “That’s.. Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

For a moment, she almost looked relieved.. Or even sad. But another blinding smile appeared before he could figure out why.

“I think you guys are fun to be around too.” She said warmly.

Claude smiled, feeling his uneasiness melt away. She didn’t sound sad or solemn at all. He was probably just imagining things, or seeing a trick of the light.

“Excuse me.”

Claude and Marinette slowed to a stop, turning to another boy who had come to interrupt them.

“Mind switching off with me?” He asked, offering his hand to Marinette. Was that even allowed during an informal dance such as this?

Nevertheless, Claude caught Marinette’s eye. “What do you say, Mari? Wanna switch off?”

Marinette blinked. “Oh- uh -sure. If you’re okay with it.”

“Absolutely.” Claude smirked, jokingly spinning Marinette into the other boy’s arms. “Just don’t forget your promise to try!”

Marinette chuckled as she re-situated herself into the dance position. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Claude watched the two dance away, smiling proudly at the seed he’d sown for Marinette and Felix’s romantic evening. Allegra was surely going to be pleased with his work, and he was going to be pleased watching it unfold.

Now to get that shrimp.

~~~~~~~

Felix leaned against the wall, quietly observing the other party members dance, specifically Marinette. Her smile shined brightly as a boy twirled her, and her shoulders shook with giggles when the boy dipped her a second later. She appeared to be enjoying herself, and Felix was enjoying watching her. He had a feeling the other boys from Rosemary would be showering her with attention tonight- it was one of the rare times when she wasn’t being smothered by himself and the trio, after all -but he was admittedly surprised by the amount of stamina she possessed. It’d been at least an hour or two since the dancing started, yet she was still going as strong as ever, non-stop.

Well, he supposed it wasn’t non-stop. She had spun over to his little corner a few times to talk, which was how he ended up carrying two cups of punch instead of his one. Still, she should probably take a seat soon. Those heels she’d decided to wear were bound to be painful after a while. Perhaps he should grab her attention and find an empty table-

“U-um, excuse me, Felix?”

Felix glanced to his right, meeting the face of a girl that seemed vaguely familiar and a tad timid. She stood a certain distance away from him, her lips stretched into a nervous smile, and gave a little wave. Was that all she intended to do?

“Can I help you?” He asked, raising a brow.

“Oh- well-” The girl faltered, as though she hadn’t expected to get this far, and rubbed her arm. “A-actually, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to.. Dance? With me. Of course.”

Ah, Felix thought, heaving a mental sigh. He should have known that that would be her intention. Now her visible anxiety made sense.

“Apologies, but I don’t dance.” He replied smoothly.

The girl’s shoulders sank. “Oh.. really? I thought you took waltzing classes at the school.”

Felix schooled a neutral expression, if only to avoid glaring. What, was she stalking him or something?

“I assure you they are for my Mother’s pleasure only, but I myself do not dance.” He said, a flatter note in his voice than before. Take the hint.

Thankfully, she did, but not in the way Felix was hoping.

“Ah, I see.. How about I keep you company then?” The girl suggested, getting entirely too comfortable next to him. “You’ve been over here by yourself for a while now.”

Felix’s grip on the cups tightened. So she was stalking him.

“While I appreciate the gesture, it’s quite unnecessary. I’m simply waiting for my friend to get back.”

“Your friend?” The girl asked, glancing into the crowd curiously. “You mean the black-haired girl who gave you that drink, right?”

Felix held back another scowl, his eye twitching. Seriously, how long had this girl been watching him? Didn’t she have someone better to bother? There were plenty of other guys here that would be willing to dance or talk with her. Why did she have to choose to annoy him specifically?

“Her hair is raven, and yes, she’s the one that gave me this drink.” He responded curtly, taking a sip of his own punch.

The girl nodded thoughtfully, blissfully unaware of his thinning patience. “I guess her hair does have a blue shine to it. Do you want me to hold one of the drinks? I imagine they get heavy after a while.”

Felix pulled the drinks away from her grasp, finally fixing her with a look.

I want you to mind your business, you little-

“Felix!”

Marinette’s punch was plucked from his hands, and an arm settled on his left shoulder. He whipped to the new interruption, thinking what now? and about ready to snap at someone, until he saw Allegra’s smiling face. She must have noticed him getting irritated and came over to investigate.

“You look like you’re having fun.” She said brightly, swirling Marinette’s punch in her hand. “Thanks for holding my drink for me.”

Felix winced, practically feeling the gears in the girl’s head turning. He’d just told her that the drink was Marinette’s, not Allegra’s. She was no doubt going to pick up on that. (Unless she was dimmer than he gave her credit for. That could always be a possibility.)

“Wait-” The girl said, her brows furrowing. Great. “Your drink? Felix just told me that that raven-haired girl gave him the drink.”

Felix gave Allegra a tired look. Try getting out of this one now.

At least she got Marinette’s hair color right that time.

Allegra ignored Felix’s look, instead throwing the girl a sharp smile. It was a rare sight to behold, but a welcome one. (So long as it wasn’t directed at him, of course.) It meant she was preparing herself to tear someone apart.

“Yes,” She replied shortly, “I gave the drink to Marinette, so she could give it to Felix. Is there a problem?”

The girl frowned. “But that doesn’t make any sense. I saw her-”

“You don’t believe me?” Allegra cut her off. “That’s rather rude to say to the hostess of the party, don’t you think? Go ask her yourself if you’re so skeptical. I wouldn’t recommend coming back to me afterwards, though.”

The girl huffed and crossed her arms, but turned around anyway, marching right off to a small group of girls that must have encouraged her to come talk with him in the first place. They swarmed her quickly, asking what happened and glaring at Allegra, but all Felix cared to do was take Marinette’s punch back from the blonde.

“I’m grateful, but I’m still going to need this back.” He said.

Allegra laughed and straightened to throw her hands in the air as a sign of surrender. “Fine with me. I didn’t realize you’d grown so attached to the beverage.”

Felix rolled his eyes. “I didn’t. You just might drink it by accident while we’re talking.”

Allegra tilted her head in a nod. “That’s a fair assumption. So what did that girl want from you?”

He sighed. “A dance. What else would people be asking me for at this ridiculous party?”

“Hey, it’s not ridiculous.” Allegra argued. “Marinette’s having a pretty good time.”

Felix’s gaze swept over the crowd again, finding Marinette easily as she switched off to a new dance partner. Her smile was contagious as always, and it spread onto Felix’s lips with little resistance.

“Yes, I suppose she is.” He agreed, taking another sip of his punch.

Allegra leaned against the wall next to him with a light chuckle. “You know, I bet if Marinette asked you to dance with her, you would.”

Felix scoffed at the implication her tone gave. Of course he would dance with Marinette if she asked, but only because it would make her happy, not because he wanted to dance with her. (Not that he particularly minded dancing with her either-)

“She wouldn’t ask me to dance,” he said before his thoughts could get out of hand, “because she knows I don’t fancy it.”

Allegra hummed. “Maybe you should ask her then.”

Felix shot her a look. This was going to be as tiresome as the other girl, wasn’t it?

“And why would I do that?”

“Because you need to not be a total wallflower this evening.” Allegra smiled. “And it would make Marinette happy. She’s already danced with Allan and Claude tonight, but with your professional lessons, I’m sure she’d have a blast.”

“I believe we just established that she is already having a blast.” Felix remarked, to which Allegra groaned.

“Just think about it, alright?”

“Unlikely.”

Why should he have to entertain an uncomfortable idea when Marinette was already enjoying herself? Granted, dancing with her didn’t sound awful, but the thought that it might encourage others to attempt dancing with him did. People were already asking him to dance while he was hiding near a wall. Imagine how many girls would come out of the woodwork once they actually saw him dancing.

Allegra rolled her eyes and waved him off. “Alright, whatever. I’m going back to the buffet table. Feel free to walk over if you start getting the urge to snap on someone again.”

Felix smirked. “In other words, I’ll see you in a few minutes?”

Allegra snorted as she walked away, and Felix settled back against the wall.. Just in time to see Marinette making her way towards him from the midst of the crowd. She appeared to be out of breath, though she offered him a tired smile when they locked eyes, and he moved forward to meet her halfway. That way she won’t have to trek all the way across the room for a drink.

“Are you finally taking another break?” He asked, handing her her punch when they joined at the edge of the crowd.

Marinette breathed out a laugh and took her drink with a “thanks”. It amazed him how well her outfit was staying together. The bow that held the dress together over her shoulders hadn’t loosened at all, and her hair seemed to be in place as well, save for a few stray strands. One would think that that amount of dancing would have her looking more disheveled.

“Yeah, just for a second.” She panted. “I’m starting to get dizzy from spinning so much.”

Felix chuckled. “Would you like to go find a table for a bit?”

“Uh..” Marinette glanced around the room for a moment, thinking it over. “You know what? Sure. I could sit for a bit.”

Felix smiled and gestured for her to lead the way, though he did point out an empty table that he had spotted earlier.

Marinette sat down first, with Felix pulling out her chair for her, and he sat down next to her. Their position faced the party rather than the wall, which allowed them- or at least Marinette -to continue enjoying the party atmosphere while they spoke.

“So are you having a decent time?” Marinette asked, taking a quick sip of her punch. “I know parties aren’t your thing, but you’re not too miserable, right?”

A bitter laugh escaped him, and he twirled his cup on the table as he said, “Miserable is certainly a good word to describe this evening.”

“Aw~, I’m sorry. Do you think going out to get some air would help?”

Felix offered her a smile. “That sounds delightful, but it’s as you said: Parties simply aren’t my preference. This party especially.”

Marinette’s eyebrows knitted together. “Because it’s a Valentine’s Day party or because there are so many people?”

“The Valentine’s Day theme.” Felix confirmed. “Not only are people more inclined to invade my personal space, but they also like to make the ‘Day of Love’ about romance exclusively. It diminishes the other definition to a ridiculous amount in my opinion.”

“Other definitions?” Marinette inquired. “What do you mean?”

Felix allowed a small, humorous smile to catch his lips. She’d just inadvertently proven his point right there. People were so focused on the romantic sense of love that they seemed to forget the several other types of love that exist.

“There’s more than one type of love, such as platonic love or familial love. In fact, the Greeks had seven different words for love. I believe they’re all important, so to see them all be dwindled down to just romantic love is aggravating.”

“Huh..” Marinette muttered, absorbing his words. “I never knew about the Greeks using seven different words for love. What were they?”

Felix briefly glanced up in thought. “If I remember correctly, they were Philia, Ludus, Storge, Philautia, Pragma, Agape, and Eros.”

“Wow.” Marinette smiled. “They sound beautiful. What do they mean?”

Felix smirked as well. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Always willing to listen and learn from my random facts.

“Well, the meanings are all decently complicated, but I supposed they can be summed up to this: Philia is the type of intimate love between friends. Ludus is the playful and ‘exciting’ type of love that one would get with a random crush. Storge is familial love, Philautia is the love of self, Pragma is the enduring type of love- which is the type of love needed for marriages or serious relationships -Agape is the unconditional love for humanity as a whole- which I clearly do not have-” He gained a snort from that “-and Eros is that of sexual love.”

The meaning of the last one felt a bit awkward on his tongue, but he pushed away the uneasiness. She had asked for the definitions, after all.

“I like those definitions.” Marinette said, a soft look coming to her features. “It’s cool that you know so much about them.”

“I have mentioned that I enjoy knowing things.”

Marinette giggled. “So you have. Just out of curiosity, though- and this may be a bit contradictory to the conversation -but have you ever had a crush on anyone? Or just, you know.. Been in a relationship in general? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

Felix’s eyes widened slightly. He honestly hadn’t expected her to ever ask him such a thing. It made sense, considering the topic of the conversation they were having, but it was still surprising coming from her.

Nevertheless, he answered.

“No, neither. I’ve never been interested in anyone enough to pursue them, and anyone interested in me has always been too clingy. If I wanted someone to fawn over me constantly, I would simply invite Claude and Allegra to my house more often.”

For some reason, his answer didn’t feel quite right as he said it, and he found himself gauging Marinette’s reaction. Did he answer the question incorrectly? Was she going to be upset? Or possibly disappointed? Why would she be either? How could there possibly be an ‘incorrect’ answer to the question he’d just been asked?

Marinette snorted, clearly not upset at all, and it left him wondering why he’d bothered to worry.

“I figured you’d say that. You don’t seem like the type to get caught up in feelings like that.”

Felix nodded, though he silently questioned what she meant by the comment. Was she implying that he couldn’t get caught up in those types of feelings? Why did that seem so offensive to him?

“What about you?” he asked, brushing his thoughts to the side. He was just being ridiculous anyway. “Have you ever had romantic feelings towards another or been in a relationship?”

He already knew about her affections for Adrien Agreste, of course, but he’d yet to find out how far they went. And, on top of that, there was always the possibility of her having more than one lover. So it only made sense to ask the question, especially since she had asked him first.

A grimace overtook her features, clearly telling him that she had, in fact, had a romantic encounter before.

“Well.. I’ll admit I’ve had a lot of crushes, but there was this one that really got me. You, uh, you’ve actually met him already. Technically, anyway.”

Felix took a guess. “Adrien Agreste?”

She nodded, a bitter smile coming to her lips. “Cliché, right? The baker girl falling for the famous model..” She glanced down at her drink, absently tilting the cup to watch the liquid swirl. “I didn’t like him because he was a model, though. I liked him because he was sweet, and he was thoughtful, and.. I don’t know, I guess I thought.. that we could live a happy life together.”

Felix frowned at the cloud that seemed to pass over her, the pain that swelled in her eyes. He hadn’t realized how strong her attachment to Agreste was.

Marinette shook her head, breaking free of the thought process, and plastered on a smile. “I’m sorry, you didn’t ask about that.”

“No, it’s alright.” He assured her. “You can’t let things weigh on your mind unattended. If you feel you need to talk about it, then I’m willing to lend an ear.”

Marinette’s posture relaxed, relief making her smile a bit more genuine as she said, “Thank you. I appreciate it.. I don’t have any feelings for him now, but the pain is.. It still comes back, especially with how things ended. Sometimes I wish it had been different, sometimes I wish I had been different, and sometimes I wish I hadn’t fallen for him at all.. but mostly, I’m just glad it’s over.”

“What happened?”

“Well.. nothing happened, to be honest. And I think that was the hardest part.” Marinette drew in a deep breath, allowing herself to relax before continuing, “He came to my school a little over two years ago. Everyone was excited, but I didn’t even know who he was. When I did find out, though, we actually had a little bit of a misunderstanding. It’s funny when I think about it now, the way things turned out during that first day.”

“He apologized about it later, even though it wasn’t his fault, and I think that’s when I started to see him as something more than a friend. The more I got to know him, the more I started falling head over heels, and soon my friends found out about it. They thought we would be a great couple too, which kind of made me excited, and we all started planning these elaborate schemes to get him to notice me.”

She put her head in her hands and groaned. “It was so embarrassing, Felix, you should have seen them. One even involved me dressing up like a cat since he loved Chat Noir so much.”

Felix grimaced, though he tried not to show it. Marinette dressing up like a cat for some random guy’s attention? He couldn’t even fathom it. Who came up with that suggestion?

“Did it.. work?” He almost hesitated to ask.

Marinette laid her head on the table then, shaking it with a whine. “Not even close. This group of dogs saw me on my way over, and I guess my costume was too convincing because they chased me all around Paris. I ended up muddy and scratched up when Adrien actually saw me, which didn’t help at all.”

Felix was careful not to react, but he almost felt the need to pat her on the shoulder. How had she not died from embarrassment yet? If someone put him through that, he’d never go outside again.

“You see? That’s how all of it was. All. of. It.” Marinette said, lifting her head again to lean her chin into her palm. “Two years I spent chasing after him, making all of these plans and trying to catch his eye just once, but no matter what I did, I was only ever his ‘good friend’. A-And I’m not saying I hated being his friend or anything, I just.. I was trying so hard to be more, wondering why I wasn’t enough, and my friends were constantly cheering me on to keep going. It was exhausting.”

Felix offered her a sympathetic look as she went on, though he couldn’t help feeling annoyed by the story. What kind of ‘friends’ did she use to have that they would willingly push her to make a fool of herself in front of her love? What kind of friends would encourage her to continue chasing after someone who clearly wasn’t interested in her? That wasn’t healthy at all, and he could only imagine how miserable it would have made her.

Wait..

“Is that why he’s coming to see you now?” Felix asked. (or more of blurted out.) “Because of your previous feelings for him?”

“Oh, no.” Marinette said, going so far as to let out a laugh. “No, I doubt he’s ever going to see me in that light, but it’s still frustrating that he’s trying to visit me. Moving to Rosemary was supposed to be an easy break, but he just has to follow me here too.. Again, it’s not that I mind being his friend or anything, it’s.. I need time. To get over him. I don’t like the person I became when I only lived to gain his affection, and it’s hard to get over that mindset, ya know?”

Felix nodded. He didn’t quite understand her experience since he’d never loved someone himself, but he knew that old habits were hard to break, and that love can be known as an intoxicating and addicting emotion. It wouldn’t be easy to get rid of.

“You’re strong for deciding that.” He said sincerely. “It takes an immense amount of will power to let go of something that you think will make you happy, but I believe you’re right in thinking you’ll be better for it.”

Marinette pulled a small smile, twisting the small tip of her ponytail. “Thanks. I hope I am.”

Felix smiled as well and turned his chair to face Marinette more fully. He wanted to ensure that she would hear the words he was about to say.

“Marinette, you are.. an incredible person. And I’m not just telling you this to lift your spirits, I am saying it because it’s true. You are talented, intelligent, kind, and capable all on your own. You don’t need anyone to validate how amazing you are, because it’s evident in everything you do, and I truly hope you don’t ever doubt yourself because of Adrien’s foolishness.”

A blush bloomed across Marinette’s cheeks, and she glanced down to fiddle with her hands. “O-Oh, uhm.. Thanks.. Again. I won’t.”

Felix smiled, satisfied with the reaction, and picked up his cup to extend it towards her.

“Here,” he said light-heartedly, “to finding someone new, someone who appreciates you, even if that someone is yourself.”

Marinette giggled and picked up her drink as well, clinking the glasses together. “To finding someone new.”

Felix took a sip of his cup to complete the toast, but to his surprise, Marinette set hers to the side, instead standing up and offering her hand to him.

“Let’s go dance.”

Felix choked on his drink.

“Pardon?”

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Marinette insisted. “I mean, you only have to come if you want to, of course, but I haven’t danced with you yet, and Claude said that you took waltzing lessons at the school.”

Felix held back a scoff and glanced around the room, hoping to catch Claude’s eyes so he could glare at him. Why did that dolt keep telling people he took waltzing lessons? It only made it harder for Felix’s to reject people when asked to dance.

However.

He looked back to Marinette, who held a fresh, bright smile, waiting for his response.

“I bet if Marinette asked you to dance, you would.”

Allegra’s words resurfaced in his mind, unwelcomed. Why did she always have to be right? It only made her more smug as a person.

Nevertheless, Felix took Marinette’s hand. “Alright, but only one dance. I don’t want anyone else thinking I’m open to the idea.”

Marinette chuckled and pulled Felix to his feet. “Of course not. We’ll dance near the darker spots of the room so your face won’t be seen.”

They moved to the dance floor, and Marinette put her hand on his shoulder, while Felix wrapped his arm around her waist. It was a bit awkward pulling each other close, since the only other person he’d been this close to was his mother and father, but once they actually started to dance, his years of practice easily took over. Felix slid into the role of leading, and Marinette followed him willingly as he spun her around the party room, smiling when she laughed during a dip.

Such a fool.. He thought, tugging her back up to him. How anyone could pass up Marinette’s affection was beyond him, but in a way, Felix was delighted that Adrien had. He might not have been able to meet her otherwise.

With the two being so enveloped in each other’s movements, they didn’t notice Allegra, Claude, and Allan watching them from across the room, nor did they catch the smiles and high-fives that the trio shared.

Tag List: @sasstrashforlike5fandoms @artbyknigit @athena452 @nickristus-dreamer @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @arsaem @abrx2002 @neakco @pawsitivelymiraculous @too0bsessedformyowngood @nathleigh @lusicing @officiallydarkgeek @all-mights-asscheeks @tbehartoo @woe-is-me0 @raeuberprinzessin @lazuli-11 @miss-chaos27 @trippingovermyfeet @sadpotatoondrugs @ladybug-182 @jaggedheart11 @marinahrasauce @i-need-blog-ideas @thewheezingbubbledragon @crazylittlemunchkin @unabashedbookworm @moonystars14 @sunflowers-and-mooncakes @2confused-2doanything @magnificentcrapposts @moonnette @nickristus-dreamer @vixen-uchiha @casual-darkness @luxmorningstarr @jjmjjktth @kaithehero @itsme1598 @theymakeupfairies @xjaccyx @miraculous-ninja @miraculouspenta @swiftie-miraculer13 @justafanwarrior @all-mights-asscheeks @ira-sairain @lookatthestars1 @dahjokester @blissful-passing @solangelo252 @canivialemonsquints07 @derbygracie @pleaseignorejustheretoread

#felinette #Felix Culpa #Marinette #Miraculous Ladybug #Rosemary AU #New Girl on the Block #quantic kids

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the-witty-pen-name · 4 years

Text

Can’t Help Falling in Love

Loki x Reader (f)

Valentine’s Day with the God of Mischief

Based on suggestion by: @squadleaderchase

A/N: Thank you so much for the suggestion! I loved writing this, it was so much fun!

Happy Valentine’s Day y’all!

There is also a gender neutral version of this fic, and will be posted shortly after this one! Read it here!

I recommend to putting on Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis towards the end just for that finishing touch!

Summary: When Loki learns about the traditions of Valentine’s Day, he asks you to be his Valentine- and reluctantly takes advice from Steve Rogers.

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: none; just fluff

“Can’t Midgardians have a holiday that doesn’t involve such a grotesque display of… red?” Loki asks walking into the living room of the Avengers compound. Loki arrived at the compound a few weeks before Christmas and so far, he’s experienced two Earth holidays: Christmas and New Year’s. Of course, Tony had picked the theme for both parties to be elaborately red and gold- he claimed the fact that it matched his suit was merely a coincidence.

“Just wait until next month,” you reply casually, your eyes not leaving the brief you were reading while you sat cozied up in one of the large armchairs. “I think you’ll like St. Patrick’s Day much more… color scheme wise at least.”

Loki looked up curiously at the hearts of all shades of red and pink Natasha had hung up to decorate the Avengers’ living quarters. She had gone to visit Clint’s family and his kids spent hours making Valentines and decorations out of construction paper and glitter. Loki looked almost puzzled at the lopsided hearts that hung from the ceiling on transparent line so they looked like they floated mid-air.

“Perhaps I might,” he mumbled to himself, the lovesick aura of his surroundings making him slightly disgusted. “Though I suppose I find your rituals as bizarre as you’d find on Asgard.”

“Mhmm,” you mumbled in response to his thinking out loud. It was rare that the compound would be this quiet. It was a Friday evening and in the middle of a team meeting earlier today, Tony declared exhaustedly that everyone needs to start the weekend early and dismissed everyone despite Steve’s protests. You weren’t sure where everyone else went and you didn’t particularly care- enjoying the rare peace and quiet.

You didn’t mind Loki’s company. He was a little aloof but overall, you found him more to be misunderstood than anything else. He wasn’t like Thor and sure, he had a very trouble ridden past to downplay it- but he’s confided in you all it wasn’t entirely his doing. Out of everyone living at the compound, he probably had grown the closest to you, or as close as Loki would allow himself to be to someone.

“What even is this holiday?” Loki asked, pulling his attention from the decorations to where you sat, binder in your lap. You looked up and closed the brief, tossing it onto the coffee table in front of where you sat.

“Sunday is Valentine’s Day,” you say looking back over to him, meeting his eyes. “I mean overtime the traditions and how we celebrate have changed but it’s originally the day meant to honor St. Valentine and commemorate his death. There’s a lot more to it than that and there’s all different of different origins, but now it’s more like a day where you celebrate love, because he was the patron Saint of Love.”

Loki nods, liking the idea of this holiday much more than New Years already. He didn’t mind Christmas, but the elaborate parties made everything not very appealing to him. You can’t blame the god for not having a good time at parties where every guest fears him or hates him. He walks over and takes a seat on the couch and crosses his legs. He was intrigued enough to continue the conversation and ask you more questions. “What are the traditions?” He asks curiously.

“Traditionally, you would ask someone to be your Valentine, and that’s the person you want to spend the day with,” you answer with a small shrug, trying to explain a holiday you’ve never had to explain before. “Some people have it easy and they ask their significant other, and if you don’t have one, you ask someone you’re romantically interested in to be your Valentine. Then you give each other gifts, like chocolates or flowers, anything really that’s romantic and you go out on a date, like a nice dinner but it doesn’t have to be. That’s the basic gist.”

“Thank you, (y/n),” Loki said, mulling over your explanation. “You’ve been helpful, as always. Tell me, who’s your Valentine?”

“I don’t have one,” you answered honestly. The only time you really celebrated was when you had been with someone. You’d never really participated otherwise. You planned to just spend the night alone or with Nat if she also didn’t have plans and probably watch a movie- most definitely Pride and Prejudice.

“Shame,” Loki said with a tsk. “Perhaps, if you would be interested, you could be my Valentine?”

“Really?” you ask, honestly surprised.

“I actually like the idea of the day,” Loki shrugged. “And I don’t know many people, people seem to hate me on this planet- no idea as to why. You’ve always been kind to me, and you are the most tolerable person I’ve encountered on this planet.”

“That’s oddly very kind of you,” you say with a chuckle. “I appreciate the sentiments. Um, yes. I’d be happy to be your Valentine.”

“Excellent,” he grinned. He clapped his hands together and stood up. “Splendid. I’ll ask Thor to help me plan something.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” you smile, picking up your paperwork again as Loki heads off to find his brother.

***

“Brother,” Thor’s voice echoed in the training room. “Spar with me?”

“As much as I would love to,” Loki said sarcastically, “I need your help with something I need to plan.” Loki walked over to the side of the mat where Thor had been training with Captain Rogers.

“Plan what?” Captain Rogers asked curiously. It was an innocent enough question but Loki took it as Rogers insinuating his distrust in him. Of course, Loki can’t blame the man but it did rub him the wrong way.

“If you must know Captain Rogers, I’m making plans for this upcoming Valentine’s Day,” Loki said matter-of-factly. “I’m sure since you have quite the active love life recently, your words of wisdom are probably of infinite value.”

“You can learn a thing or two from me,” Steve retorted as he put the punching bag beck into place. “But I don’t like your attitude.”

“I don’t know how I’ll ever manage without you,” Loki scoffed. He turned his attention back to his brother. “I need help to determine where I should take (y/n) and what I should get her.”

“(y/n) agreed to this?” Thor asks, his eyebrows raised in confusion. Rogers kept his mouth shut, deciding to see where this conversation will go before

“Yes, brother. I asked her to be my Valentine as stated by tradition and she said yes.”

“Ah! Good for you, brother!” Thor exclaimed, happily. “I’m glad you’re immersing yourself in the Midgard culture.”

“Yes, yes,” Loki waved him off, “Now, please, tell me what I should do.”

“I’ve never celebrated Valentine’s Day,” Thor says with a shrug and a sympathetic look. “I haven’t had much opportunity to explore the culture. Every time I’m on this planet I’m a little busy preventing its destruction. Perhaps Rogers can help you?”

Loki let out an exasperated sigh. He avoided Rogers as he knew the man had such a smug look on his face. Loki refused to give him the satisfaction. However, he realized that wouldn’t be fair to you. Rogers not only knew what to do, but he was also close friends with you. He quickly realized if he wanted to celebrate with you properly, he’d need to rely on the infamous super soldier.

“Captain Rogers,” Loki said with a charismatic smile, turning back to the man. “I wholeheartedly apologize for my lack of… social niceties. If you’d be willing to help me, to ensure your dear friend enjoys her holiday, I would be sincerely grateful.”

“Only because of (y/n),” Rogers says skeptically, waving a finger at Loki. “She deserves to enjoy her time and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I let you screw up her evening.”

“What a loyal friend.”

Years later, the Avengers would still talk about the fact Loki cared about you so much, he sought out advice from Captain America and Thor. And as Captain America said, he helped Loki with every last detail and Steve never let Loki forget it.

***

Loki had told you that he’d come to your room to get you at 6 o’clock Sunday evening. He wore clothes he had picked out, black dress pants, a white button-down shirt and shiny, black dress shoes. He had kept the last button of the shirt unbuttoned and he had rolled the sleeves up, a styling tip he had gotten from Thor. He had his long hair gelled back and tamed, ignoring Captain Roger’s horrible suggestion for a haircut. He felt very weird not wearing any green, but he took the advice he was given on his ensemble.

You were just putting on your heels when he knocked at your door Sunday promptly at 6pm. Of course, Loki would be very punctual. You gave yourself one more quick once more in the mirror in your room before heading to answer the door.

You had on a pair of dark green heels that perfectly matched your dress. You also layered over the outfit a suede brown jacket, that complimented the jewel tone of the dress and shoes nicely. You kept your appearance simple, sticking to how you usually styled your hair. Not wanting to keep him waiting, you quickly opened the door, your jacket and bag both in hand.

“Wow,” you say with a grin, when you take in Loki’s appearance. “You look very nice.”

“You look stunning,” Loki said, his eyes widening, taking in your appearance. The compliment made you have butterflies.

“Thank you,” you said with false confidence. Underneath, you were a nervous wreck as you took the arm that he extended to you.

“So,” Loki began to walk down the hallway with you. “Apparently, this planet has something called reservations, and anyone who tries to get one a few days before Valentine’s Day is a “moron,” according to a very rude young man I had the pleasure of speaking with- the first time using a phone too on top of that. So, I hope you don’t mind if the evening is a little… makeshift.”

“I’m sure it’ll be great,” you reassure him. You feel him relax slightly. You found how hard he was trying so endearing.

Where else did he bring you but just down the hall to the living room. At night with the lights dimmed, combined with Natasha’s homemade decorations, it actually looked quite beautiful. He had decorated with an eclectic array of candles as well that covered most surfaces of the room. It also looked like he had swiped every throw pillow in the whole compound and had them arranged the coffee table in the center of the room.

“Did you do all of this?” You ask in awe.

“Yes,” he replied, just watching you. “Do you like it?”

“It’s perfect.”

“I had to make my own version of advice I received,” he disclosed to you. You sat opposite each other on either side of the coffee table, you kicked off your heels and he did the same with his shoes. “Captain Rogers said- and I’m trying my best to quote verbatim, ‘You need to show a girl a good time. You gotta take her to dinner and dancing.’” He even mimicked Steve’s voice perfectly. It made you laugh.

“I can’t believe you subjected yourself to Steve for me, I’m touched,” you smiled. “I mean I love Steve,” you continue, “But I can’t imagine you too being best friends anytime soon.”

“No, I suppose we probably won’t be,” Loki chuckles.

“I hate to point it out,” you continue, “but I think you missed both the dinner part and the dancing part of that plan.” Loki smirked and when you blinked, he transformed the whole room.

“Did I?” he asks, with an eyebrow raised. You gasp, looking around the room you were now in. You knew it was an illusion, but it felt very real. The atmosphere, the breeze coming in from the large bay windows that weren’t there before. The coffee table now a table now one of many dining tables in an incredibly high-end restaurant. The table had food, and a bottle of wine. You were stunned. There was a live band and other couples in other tables and out on the dancefloor.

“Loki?” You exclaimed, looking around at your new surroundings. It was amazing. You couldn’t believe the magic right before your eyes. Of course, you knew it was just one of his tricks, but it felt so incredibly real. You picked up your fork and took a bite of the food in front of you. It was incredible, you questioned if you were even eating.

“It’s real,” Loki said, like he could read your mind. Honestly, he had only just anticipated your next question. “I made it. Well, I made it with Friday’s supervision.”

“It’s fantastic! I can’t believe you went through all this trouble just for me.”

“Sweetheart, you are very much worth it- worth much more than this,” he responded casually, throwing in the term of endearment to see how you’d react. He caught the way it made you smile.

You continued to talk for a little while, and shared stories. You were worried that compared to his life on Asgard, he’d find your stories incredibly boring and mundane. It seemed to be the opposite. His attention was only on you and he held on to every word you said. He created this elaborate setting just to keep you the center of his attention.

“Should we dance?” He asks suddenly, a glimmer in his eye. You looked down apprehensively.

“I’m not really a dancer,” you tried to insist.

“Do you actually not want to dance, darling? Because if so, I will not bring it up again,” he says earnestly, “But, if you’re saying no because you’re afraid I’m going to judge you, I honestly can promise you I would never dream of doing so.”

You give it another moment to ponder over his words. You were taken aback at how well he seemed to know how you were thinking. You let out a sigh of defeat, and smile. “I’d love to,” you reply.

He stands up and offers you his hand. His smile is enough to make you weak at the knees. You take his hand and he leads you over to the dancefloor as the band starts playing its next song. “Does that singer sound like Elvis?” You ask, the small glitch in the illusion throwing you off for only a moment.

“I don’t know who that is,” Loki says with a laugh. He pulls you in close and rests one hand on the small of your back and the other grasps your hand close. You wrap your other arm around his shoulder. You are both pressed up incredibly close to one another. You rest your head on his chest comfortably, and you can’t see how much the action makes his whole face go red. Guiding your movements together, it mostly just swaying in place. The steps were small, and with the music playing for the two of you.

“This place is incredible,” you sigh happily looking up at him. “But I think I liked the first place a little better.”

He nodded in agreement and you got to watch a green hue encompass the walls of the restaurant as they almost melted away, and everything around the two of you just fade away. The sconces on the walls, revealed themselves to be the candles that cluttered the living room and the couples evaporated with the green mist. The table you had both sat at, turned back to the coffee table but the empty plates remained. The elaborate statues that surrounded the room turned into the furniture you knew well, and then the live band faded away to reveal Steve’s record player indeed playing a 45 of Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley.

When the room finished revealing its true appearance to you, you laid your head back on Loki’s chest and mumbled that now it was perfect. He smiled to himself, thinking about how without a doubt in his mind, Valentine’s Day is his absolute favorite holiday on Midgard. He now couldn’t believe this reality was real. If he wasn’t holding you, he’d pinch himself. You were here, with him, in his arms, dancing in the middle of the living room on this godforsaken planet.

“(y/n)?” he whispered softly as the song was coming to an end.

“Mhmm?” You responded, your eyes closed, really just basking in the feeling of being so close to him and the smell of his cologne.

“Will be mine?” He asks carefully, remembering the phrase from Captain Roger’s advice. That phrase apparently being very important if today went well and he wanted to ask you to “go steady.” You chuckled softly, hearing Steve’s influence in the phrase.

“I would love to,” you say with a shy smile looking back up to him. He beams, incredibly happy you said yes. Swept up in his emotions, he swiftly leans down and presses his lips to yours capturing them in a passionate first kiss.

“Oh gross!” You hear someone exclaim, making you both pull away. It’s Tony- who was currently holding his side in pain as Pepper elbowed him in the side.

“You really had to do that?” she chastised him, rolling her eyes and giving an apologetic look to you and Loki before pushing Tony down the hallway to give you both your moment back, as sullied as it had become thanks to Tony.

“I’m so sorry,” she said embarrassed by his outburst, ushering him out as quickly as possible.

Loki turns his head back to you, immediately after they are out of view. “Where were we, darling?” He smirks, pulling you in for another kiss.

#loki laufeyson #loki x reader #loki x you #loki x y/n #valentines day imagine #marvel imagine #mcu loki #loki imagine #loki fluff #fluff imagine #tom hiddleston x reader #tom hiddelston imagine #tom hiddleston x y/n

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af1899 · 3 years

Text

FEH — Calendar for Nov/2021 is out + own thoughts and plans

(Twitter thread)

The calendar for the month is finally out, and we can plan ahead for who/what I want to pull on, as well as look out for other potentially interesting events.

I'll dump my own plans and thoughts as per usual below the cut, feel free to read on.

Banners

I didn't include links and mentions from the leaks' contents, in case you're avoiding those.

From the looks of it, the dates are still the same for my timezone, but I've read that'll change starting next calendar for some months, due to the Daylight Savings.

Anyway, as it turns out, Ryoma was indeed our next Resplendent Hero, he looks good, but I care very little about him, so I didn't make the usual thought post — but Ryoma being the next Resplendent upgrade candidate means that the leak for the whole month is turning out to be true, it's still soon to say it's trustworthy, but I'm assuming it is to motivate myself to keep saving, as there wouldn't be anything of interest coming for the remainder of November.

The only banner I'm worried about is [Heroes with Bonfire], there are 14 sources in the regular pool but only 3 will comprise the banner itself, and among them is Idoun (best girl 💜🙏🏻), if she's there (extremely unlikely doubtfully but who knows), I'll try to aim for at least one merge, otherwise I'm hard skipping this month; I even had to pass up on the other 3 tempting red stones from the monthly refines banner, Summer Tana doesn't need merges right away and I think pulling on her home banner would be best.

There's also yet another {Double Special Heroes} banner coming... what's with I.S. breaking patterns? That should come out every 2 months. 🤨

Anyway, last time we got a rerun for an assortment of seasonals released this year, from the Valentine's banner to the Young Heroes one, the next banner... well, here are my guesses, just what remains of some of the thematics that appeared in the previous one:

Red

→ Duo Young Eirika+Ephraim

→ Bridal Shanna

Blue

→ Bridal Juno

→ Young Lyon

Green

→ Spring Inigo

→ Summer Caspar

Colorless

→ Summer Duo Hilda+Marianne

→ Groom Saul

...

Hm... assuming I got it right, I'd pick colorless, but unlike last time, we'll need to wait two weeks for the banner reveal, maybe less if it's datamined and shared, but as I've expressed before, these banners are [Orb] scavengers, so I'll skip it in the end.

The New Heroes were also leaked, of which none are my interest (again, assuming the leaks are true).

So yeah, gonna save and see what's in store this month.

Events

Just the usual without much of interest.

[Heroes Journey] (three days) and [Pawns of Loki] (two days) will run once like past months, [Røkkr Sieges] is also coming back and starting today, it's a fun game mode with rather acceptable reward value, but I don't have much motivation to aim for the top in my world, I'll just waste whatever [Stamina] and score as well as I can like usual.

We'll get [Limited Hero Battles] soon, perhaps I'll feel inspired to record a video of my own solution of an abyssal map unless it covers Three Houses units, of which I have very little and stand no chance.

Palla and Catria also get their [Bound Hero Battle], since it's the first run, I'm guessing their banner will have Est as the last unit? Minerva would fit too, but not as well. Either way, it reminded me Palla — best Whitewing! — is +9 among my projects, I'm looking forward to finish merging her.

No free unit will get a rerun after Veld until maybe later next month, but we'll get a few new maps and free units, the next New Heroes are also coming early next month, we can expect the next [Feh Channel] by then, to announce the theme for [Book VI], among the usual celebratory stuff and whatever, I'm quite thrilled to find out what's in store.

So... overall?

I think it's an average month without much of interest (not even the themed banners hold much of interest barring the [Bonfire] one), if you've seen the leaks, chances are you won't be as thrilled for which Heroes you'll see later on, and I can see that, specially since now it's gaining credibility so I don't feel the same thrill but I like planning ahead when given the resources... maybe the fodder will be interesting at least? Who knows, but I plan to skip all along.

Anyway, that's it for me, take care and thanks for reading!

#FEH #feh calendar #fe heroes #fire emblem heroes

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tyrantisterror · 3 years

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I did a four part series of trivia posts when ATOM Volume 1: Tyrantis Walks Among Us! came out, and that was pretty fun! You can see that set of trivia posts here if you’d like. I thought it’d be fun to do another now that ATOM Volume 2: Tyrantis Roams the Earth! is out - just one this time, because a lot of the trivia I talked about with Volume 1 still applies.

I’m gonna divide this into two sections: non-spoiler trivia, for things that really don’t give a lot of plot points away, and spoiler trivia, for things that DO give away major plot points. I recommend not reading the spoiler trivia until after you’ve read Tyrantis Roams the Earth!, for obvious reasons, and will put the spoiler trivia under a cut.

Ok, let’s go!

- So if you read ATOM Volume 1, you probably noticed that the book is split not only into chapters, but “episodes,” which consist of four chapters a piece. It’s kind of a nod to how the series owes a great deal of its DNA to various monster of the week shows, with Godzilla: the Series and The Godzilla Power Hour being obvious influences. It also allowed me to pepper in some illustrations and cheesy b-movie style titles into each volume.

- The first “episode” of Volume 2, Tyrantis in Tokyo, pays explicit homage to the giant monster movies of Japan, perhaps even moreso than the chapters that came before it. Given how much Japanese media influenced ATOM - from tokusatsu like the Godzilla, Gamera, and Ultraman franchises to anime like Digimon and Evangelion (hell, the title of this episode itself is a tip of the hat to Tenchi Muyo by way of one of its spinoffs) - it kind of felt obligatory that Tyrantis visit Japan and pay his respects.

- Tyrantis in Tokyo also fits in a tribute to another staple of Atomic Age pop culture: Rock and Roll.

- Kutulusca, the giant cephalopod that appears in Tyrantis in Tokyo, is one of the oldest kaiju in this series, dating back to the first iteration of Tyrantis’s story that I put to paper back in 2001 or so. It’s changed a lot since then, but its fight with Tyrantis goes more or less the way it originally did.

- Old Meg, the giant placoderm/shark, and Nastadyne, the bipedal beetle, both owe their existence directly to Deviantart’s Godzilla fandom. Old Meg originated as a dunkleosteus monster I submitted to a “create a Godzilla kaiju” contest held by Matt Frank, while Nastadyne is based on a Megalon redesign I made during the “redesign all the Godzilla kaiju” phase of DA’s kaiju fandom.

- The second episode, Tyrantis vs. the Red Menace, gets dark as we visit the USSR, which had enough REAL horror with atomic power in its history to make creature features seem a bit defanged by comparison. It’s probably the episode with the strongest horror elements - ATOM’s always been influenced by Resident Evil, and this is probably where that influence shows the most strongly.

- It also features the first fully robotic mecha in the series, the mighty Herakoschei! Its name is a combination of “Heracles” and “Koschei the Deathless,” with the former part being added by its Russian creators to make it seem a bit more international as they offer it to the U.N. in hopes of gaining aid for a very extreme kaiju problem they’ve developed.

- Most of Tyrantis vs. the Red Menace takes place in the Siberian Monster Zone. Its name is a reference to the Lawless Monster Zone in Ultraman, which is such a cool fucking name I wish that I wish I could go back in time and steal it.

- The next episode, Tyrantis’s Revenge, is... full of spoilers, so we’ll move on for now.

- The penultimate episode, Tyrantis vs. the Martian Monsters, is a love letter to MANY different sci-fi stories that involve life on Mars, though the most prominent of them is of course The War of The Worlds (one of my top 3 favorite books) and its various adaptations. From its tentacles sapient martians, the tripodal leader of the titular monsters whose name includes the word “ulla” which is uttered by said sapient martians, the plant monster made of red vines, the cylinder-shaped spacecraft the Martian monsters are sent to earth on, the copper-skinned stingray-esque flying martian who shoots lasers from its tail, and the fact that every chapter title in this episode is a quote from the book, the H.G. Wells influence is STRONG.

- The final episode, Invasion from Beyond!, is shamelessly inspired by Destroy All Monsters, although there’s a dash of “To Serve Men,” Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, and The Day the Earth Stood Still mixed in as well. It’s also sort of a tribute to my first “published” bit of a kaiju fiction - a rewrite of Destroy All Monsters that included EVERY Godzilla monster that had appeared at the time, which my middle school self wrote back in 2002 or so for Kaiju Headquarters, a kaiju fansite I’m not sure exists anymore. Invasion from Beyond! is just as ambitious (but hopefully better executed) as my DAM Remake, with dozens upon dozens of different kaiju duking it out, earthlings vs. aliens.

- There were three different documents I made to outline the final battle of Invasion from Beyond! It’s the largest episode of the series so far and more than half of it is that fucking fight. My inner child is pleased, though, so hopefully you will be too.

Ok, that’s all I can share without spoilers. READER BEWARE WHAT FOLLOWS BELOW THE CUT!

JUST MAKING SURE you know that SPOILERS will follow from here on out. Read at your own peril! YOU WERE WARNED!

(I’m gonna start with lighter ones just in case you scrolled too far and want to turn back)

- There’s a number of explicit Spielberg homages in ATOM Volume 2, from a “we need a bigger boat” joke during a chase with a giant shark to the fact that Invasion from Beyond! opens with a group of people flying to an island of monsters to review whether or not it should get more funding.

- When Tyrantis appears in the first chapter, I snuck in modified lyrics of The Godzilla Power Hour’s theme song. “Up from the depths”... “several stories high”... “breathing fire”... “its head in the sky”... Tyrantis! Tyrantis! Tyrantis!

- The two rock bands in Tyrantis in Tokyo have real life inspirations ala Gwen Valentine, albeit a bit more muddled than hers. The Cashews are inspired by The Peanuts (see what I did there), while The Thunder Lizards are a mix of The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper. I wanted The Thunder Lizards to be more akin to the myth of a famous rock and roll band than the reality - less the real Beatles and more the Yellow Submarine cartoon version of them.

- The song The Thunder Lizards write for Tyrantis was written to fit the tune of “The Godzilla March” from Godzilla vs. Gigan, though ideally if someone made an actual song of it it would be its own song. I got the idea from Over the Garden Wall, which used the Christmas song “O Holy Night” as a a starting point for “Come Wayward Souls.”

- Perry Martin, UNNO reporter and peer of Henry Robertson, is a nod to Raymond Burr, with his name being a combination of two of Burr’s most famous roles: Perry Mason, and Steve Martin from Godzilla King of the Monsters (1956).

- Dr. Rinko Tsuburaya is a few homages in one. Her name comes from Rinko Kikuchi (who played Mako Mori in Pacific Rim), while her last name is obviously in homage of Eiji Tsuburaya. Her being the daughter of an esteemed scientist is inspired by Emiko Yamane from the original Gojira.

- Nastadyne’s Burning Justice mode is named after a similar super mode from various Transformers cartoons, though it’s more directly inspired by the Shining/Burning Finger super move from G Gundam.

- Martians sending kaiju to different planets via shooting them out of cannons (with or without cylinder spaceships around them) is another War of the Worlds shoutout. So is martians living on Venus after their homeworld was made uninhabitable, actually.

- Kurokame’s vocalizations are described as wails in explicit homage to Gamera. His name can be translated as either “black tortoise” (a reference to the mythical guardian beast Genbu, which can also be construed as a Gamera reference thanks to Gamera: Advent of Irys implying Gamera and Genbu are one and the same) or a portmanteau of the Japanese words for crocodile and turtle - “crocturtle.”

- Burodon’s name is just a mangling of “burrow down.” It also sounds vaguely like Baragon, who Burodon is loosely inspired by. AND, since Burodon is sort of a knockoff/modified Baragon, that kinda makes him a reference to various monsters in Ultraman!

- The final battle of Tyrantis in Tokyo is sort of a hybrid of the finales of Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster and Destroy All Monsters.

- The Japanese kaiju teaching Tyrantis the art of throwing rocks at your enemies is both a joke on the prominence of rock throwing in Japanese kaiju fights AND the tired trope of an American hero learning secret martial arts from a Japanese mentor ala Batman, Iron Fist, etc. In this case, the secret martial art is throwing rocks at people.

- When introduced to Herakoschei and its pilot, we are told that the strain of piloting this early mecha is so intense that many pilots have died in the process, with the current one passing out on more than few occasions. This is of course a Pacific Rim homage - sadly, no one invents drifting.

- Herakoschei’s design is a loose homage to Robby the Robot and Cherno Alpha, because big boxy robots are cool.

- The Writhing Flesh and ESPECIALLY Pathogen are both hugely influenced by Resident Evil and The Thing. Giant body horror piles of raw flesh, tendrils, mismatched mouths and limbs may be a bit outside the main era of monster design ATOM homages, but they fit the themes and bring a nice contrast.

- I came up with Pathogen long before Corona but MAN it definitely feels different in 2021 to have a giant monster whose name is a synonym for disease driving other creatures crazy in a quarantine zone than it did when I plotted out the story in 2016.

- The chapter title “Hello, Old Foes” is a riff on “Goodbye, Old Friend”

- Minerva, the kaiju-fied clone of Dr. Lerna, is meant to be an homage to Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, which is a genuinely good giant monster flick. I am sure many of you will also believe I included her because I’m a pervert whose into tall women, but you’d be wrong! I included the seven foot tall Russian mecha pilot Ludmilla Portnova because I’m a pervert whose into tall women. Minerva’s inclusion was just coincidental, I swear!

- Since Promythigor is a play on the archetypal ape kaiju to contrast Tyrantis as a play on the archetypal fire-breathing reptile kaiju, their fight has a lot of nods to King Kong movies. Promythigor attempts the famous jaw-snap maneuver of Kong (with less success), J.C. Clark paraphrases the “brute force vs. a thinking animal” line from the King Kong vs. Godzilla American cut, and Tyrantis slides down a mountain to knock Promythigor off his feet in a reversal of Kong doing the same in King Kong vs. Godzilla.

- Tyrantis sliding down a mountain on his tail doubles as a Godzilla vs. Megalon homage.

- Though Promythigor is the archetypal Ape and Tyrantis the archetypal Fire-Breathing Reptile, I think it’s fun to note that in some ways, Promythigor is the Godzilla equivalent in their matchup, and Tyrantis the Kong. Promythigor has a slight size advantage, was scarred by humans performing unethical weapons technology, and is associated with violent explosions. Tyrantis is a good-at-heart prehistoric beast who humanized in part by his unlikely friendship with a human woman.

- Of course, in the context of the famous quote from the American cut of King Kong vs. Godzilla, they remain in their archetypal lanes. Promythigor is the more intelligent of the two (though not necessarily wiser), and Tyrantis is in many ways a brute reptile. Their battle is a rebuttal of sorts to the assertion that Kong is the “better” animal because he is closer to human. Promythigor’s near human creativity and emotions don’t make him the kinder/more benevolent monster, but instead fuel a very self-centered and destructive attitude that makes him the far more dangerous threat. On the other hand, Tyrantis, who is less intelligent, limited in communication with others by his reptilian mindset and instincts, and simple in his thoughts and desires, is nonetheless a sweet creature that is easily dealt with when others consider his animal needs and mindset. There’s a quote from Hellboy I love that probably sums up all of my writing thus far: “To be other than human does not mean the same as being less,” and that’s what the matchup between these two in particular tries to illustrate: the “less” human Tyrantis is nonetheless more benign than the “more” human Promythigor.

- Kraydi the psychic lizard began life as a soft sculpture I made of the Canyon Krayt Dragon from The Wildlife of Star Wars. The sculpture didn’t look much like the illustration, but I liked how it came out, and so I made it an original monster named Kraydi (see what I did there). Figuring out an explanation for that name in ATOM’s world was possibly the most difficult kaiju naming task in the series, but it worked out in the end.

- Kraydi and Promythigor having psychic powers is a result of my time on Godzilla fan forums in my middle school years. Most of the forums had OC kaiju battle tournaments, and SO many of those kaiju had a wide array of beam weapons and psychic powers just to win the tournaments by beam-spamming and mind controlling their foes into oblivion. There’s a special kind of rage you get when your original creation is beaten by “Fire Godzilla” because he has a genius level intellect and the power of unstoppable telekinesis. Kraydi began as (and still is I suppose) my attempt to do a psychic kaiju well, while Promythigor’s villainy being tied to psychic powers being forced on him is sort of my passive aggressive commentary on people foisting powers on a monster without any real thematic reason for them.

- Henry Robertson and Dr. Praetorius chewing out the laziness of people giving kaiju completely unaltered names of mythic beasts will probably be seen as a jab at the Monsterverse and/or the numerous writers in the kaiju OC scene who do the same, but it’s ACTUALLY a jab at my past self, who had DOZENS of kaiju whose names were just Greek mythological figures verbatim. There are dozens of kaiju named Hydra, Scylla, Charybdis, Chimera, etc., past me, try to make the names stand out! Oh wait you did. I mean, don’t pat yourself on the back too much, you still went with “Mothmanud” as a canon name and never came up with something better, but, like, good on ya for trying I guess.

- Dr. Praetorius takes his name from the evil mad scientis in Bride of Frankenstein, who basically has all the wicked traits that Universal’s Frankenstein downplayed in their take on Dr. Frankenstein. Ironically, ATOM’s Dr. Praetorius is a bit less evil than his fellow mad scientists in ATOM. I really like how his character turned out, he surprised me.

- Isaac Rossum, the pilot of the USA mecha Atomoton, is named for Isaac Aasimov, whose robot stories are to robot fiction what Lord of the Rings is to high fantasy. His last name is a reference to Rossum’s Universal Robots, which is where the word “robot” came from.

- The unfortunate pilots of MechaTyrantis in ATOM Volumes 1 and 2 are all nods to Jurassic Park. John Ludlow = John Hammond and Peter Ludlow, Ian Grant = Ian Malcolm and Alan Grant, Dennis Dodgson = Dennis Nedry and Lewis Dodgson.

- A good way to pitch Invasion from Beyond! would be “what if the staff and monsters were able to fight back when the Kilaaks tried to take over Monsterland?”

- Ok, here’s a fun joke that no one will get but me because it requires a very specific chain of logic based on some obscure and loosely connected nerd bullshit. There’s a rocker in ATOM’s universe named Sebastian Haff, right? One of his songs, “Darling Let’s Shimmy,” is referenced right before a mothmanud larva emerges from the ground in both ATOM Vol. 1 and 2. Ok, so, in the Bubba Hotep, an aging Elvis impersonator named Sebastian Haff claims he is actually the real Elvis Presley, having changed places with the real Sebastian Haff as a sort of Prince and the Pauper deal that went wrong. Got that? Ok, so, in UFO folklore, a common joke is the theory that Elvis didn’t die, but was rather abducted by aliens (or he actually WAS an alien the whole time - the whole “Elvis didn’t die, he just went home” joke in Men in Black is a good example of this). Ok? Ok. So, in ATOM’s universe, we can surmise that their equivalent of Elvis, whose name is Sebastian Haff, WAS abducted by aliens, and that his song “Darling Let’s Shimmy” is subconsciously influenced by his repressed memories from his time aboard the Beyonder spaceships, which is why it accidentally awoke a Mothmanud larva in Volume 1. There’s a lot of bullshit jokes I put into ATOM, but this is perhaps the bullshittiest of them all.

- One of the most common bits of feedback on ATOM Volume 1 I got was “I kept waiting for something to eat Brick Rockwell, he’s such an asshole.” And I had to smile and go, “Oh, yeah, guess he never got his, huh?” the whole time without letting on that he was going to die here all along!

- Dr. Lerna and Brick Rockwell’s nature as foils to each other is probably most apparent in Invasion from Beyond!, where both are given fairly similar situations - a nonhuman approaches them with a solution to a global crisis - and react to it very differently. I worry that some people may think they both made the same choice and got different results, and that that’s hypocrisy on my part, but I hope I wrote it so you can see how their choices and situations actually differ in key ways, and why their decisions, while similar on the surface, are ultimately very different, and thus result in almost opposite outcomes.

- So, when I planned out this book in 2016, I swear I didn’t know about the Orca from 2019′s Godzilla King of the Monsters. Having the plot hang around Dr. Lerna deciding whether or not to use a sonic device to rouse all the kaiju to save the earth was not INTENDED to be a Monsterverse reference - it came about from me looking at Pathfinder’s take on kaiju, who are all explicitly influenceable by music, and thinking, “Oh, wow, music and songs DO have a major connection with kaiju in a lot of media, I should do something with that.” Whem KOTM came out a few days after Volume 1 came out I realized I was kinda fucked here, because the comparison was definitely going to be made, but I’d also set this all up already and you can’t just change suddenly to avoid looking like a copy cat and make a good story, so... I dunno, I leaned into it a bit, but it is what it is.

- While most people will probably think they’re a reference to the Reptoids of UFO folklore, the Reptodites are more inspired by the Dinosapien of speculative evolution fame and, even morso, by the Reptites from Chrono Trigger. Me wanting to avoid the “lizard people control the government” conspiracy theory trope is one of the main reasons why Reptodites have this non-interference clause with humanity.

- Lieutenant Gray is a bunch of different humanoid aliens rolled into one - a little Hopskinville goblin, a little classic gray, a little this one weird alien with five-fingered zygodactyl hands, etc.

- There’s some Beyonder Mecha in this volume that are basically kaiju-fied versions of the Flatwoods Monster. The species that built them ALSO engineered the Mothmanuds, because connecting Mothman and the Flatwoods Monster is fun!

- Pleprah is, obviously, a one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater.

- Tyrantis’s brush with death, in addition to being so very anime, was inspired by my dad outlining how mythic heroes often have to travel to the underworld/land of the dead before they can finish their journey. It’s one of the plot points that I’ve had planned for this series since middle school.

- I’m sure some will view it as hackneyed and corny, but as a person who’s battled with depression for decades, having Tyrantis’s choice to live be the big heroic turn of the finale was very important to me. Tyrantis incorporates elements of a lot of imaginary friends I made as a kid, and in many ways he’s kind of the face of my more positive side in my head. He’s been telling me to choose to live for a while, and while maybe to an outsider it may seem hackneyed, it’s just... very Tyrantis. He chooses life and kindness in the face of pain and struggle. That’s Tyrantis.

- Tyrantis’s powered up form is called “Hyper Mode,” which is another Gundam reference. Originally it was a lot gaudier and involved him turning gold like a fuckin’ Super Saiyan. I opted for something a little more toned down here.

- Also, speaking of KOTM references, I decided to make Hyper Mode Tyrantis’s final duel with Pathogen be a sort of foil to Burning Godzilla’s final bout with Ghidorah in KOTM. Instead of ravaging the city, Hyper Tyrantis’s pulse of energy rejuvenates his fallen allies, and as a result he is “crowned” not out of fear for his supremacy in the wake of killing a powerful enemy, but in gratitude for his kindness. See? Leaning into it!

- And now I can finally reveal that Yamaneon is ATOM’s equivalent of The Monolith Monsters - that is, a kaiju that is also a mineral. I took the “strange continuously growing rock” thing in a very different direction, though, as unlike The Monolith Monsters, Yamaneon is actually alive.

- At various points in the pre-writing process, either Promythigor, MechaTyrantis, or both were going to die fighting Pathogen. I ultimately decided to let them both live, with MechaTyrantis even getting his flesh and blood body back, because I think it’s more interesting and thematically consistent that way. They get a chance to heal their wounds by changing their ways.

- The Great Beyonder and Dorazor both almost didn’t make the cut, as I felt they didn’t have the same pull as villains that Pathogen, Promythigor, and MechaTyrantis did. But then I thought that could actually be the gag - build them up as the final boss, only to have Pathogen take their crown. I want to explore post-face turn Dorazor a bit more, though. We’ll have to see about that in a later volume.

- Volumes 1 and 2 make up what I call “The Ballad of Tyrantis Arc” for ATOM. I call it that because Tyrantis’s storyline in these two volumes was patterend after Chivalric ballads like Yvain the Knight of the Lion. Tyrantis, a heroic warrior who is kind but dumb of ass, learns of strange goings on outside his home and investigates. During his journey into the unknown he falls in love with a powerful woman, whose favor he tries to win. Through happenstance he is separated from his love and, distraught, wanders around fighting various foes to prove his worth, before finally returning to his love a better hero. Invasion from Beyond! could even be seen as a sort of Morte d’Artur, with Tyrantis and a bunch of other kaiju heroes (including Nastadyne and Kemlasulla, who are built up as Hero Kaiju of Another Story) take part in a huge battle that threatens their idealic kingdom (of monsters).

- Volume 2 isn’t the end of ATOM, but it’s designed to work as an ending if you want to tap out here. As a reader I feel a definitive ending is important, but as a writer I’m always tempted to revisit my beloved characters, so I feel giving closure while leaving a few doors open for possible future adventures is a good compromise between these positions. There will be more ATOM stories, some (but not all!) following Tyrantis and Dr. Lerna, but if you want to know that Tyrantis and Dr. Lerna get an ending and the resolution to their arcs such a thing promises, here you go. An ending, if not THE END.

#The Atomic Time of Monsters #A.T.O.M. Trivia

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coreastories · 4 years

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Modern Royals: The King’s White Day declaration

If you live in Corea and you’re a man, you probably have a burning resentment for the king always raising the bar when it comes to romantic gestures.

For my international readers-- and let’s face it, most of my readers are international because I write in English, although some ahjummas have taken to using translation apps on my articles, just to make sure I’m accurate and/or have used what they “educated me about...”

Anyway, White Day is a special day you only see in a tiny portion of Asia

Japan started it, and Corea and Taiwan also do it. China, Vietnam and Singapore also do it to some extent

While the Western world pampers women on Valentine’s Day, it’s quite the opposite here, where men receive chocolates and confessions of love from women

It’s gotten so widespread that it’s become a standard in schools and workplaces, to the extent that “giri-choko” or obligation chocolates exist

These are the chocolates you had to hand out to your male colleagues, relatives, friends

Apparently, you can give cheaper varieties for these people. The more expensive the chocolate, the more special the guy will perceive himself to be. It’s a game of finesse, of not leaving anyone out, making sure your recipient feels appreciated (especially the sunbaes and bosses) but making sure no one gets the wrong message either

White Day is a reverse Valentine’s Day. It’s the women’s turn to receive chocolates and gifts from the men

And men are expected to give four times the value of what they received on Valentine’s Day

Many workplaces pool their money to buy packages of good chocolates for their women colleagues

In Corea, despite dwindling support for obligation chocolate, romantic chocolate persists. Chocolate sales reach billions of won on Valentine’s Day, and this triples on White Day.

Stores create special White Day chocolates, and advertisements and online reservations start as early as January.

White Day this year was full of queen-themed chocolates. Crown shapes, real gold flecks, the plum blossom inspired by the Royal Court’s insignia and Her Majesty’s necklace and signature forget-me-not blue color dominated the designs that flew off the shelves before they were even placed there.

Specific hashtags on Instagram were full of posts of these chocolates and photos of guys waiting in line to pick up their reservations for a Godiva box of Crown Jewels, a limited edition White Day 2021 box of chocolates quilted in the distinct Chanel pattern, which is now a trademark of the queen so often seen wearing her Coco Crush earrings or rings.

Chocopologie’s House of Knipschildt also created Sa Majesté Truffle, very similar to their Guinness Record-holder La Madeline au Truffle, except this one contains a delicate strawberry and edible gold candy in the shape of the queen’s plum blossom pink diamond necklace.

This is made to order, and sources say Chocopologie had to close orders from Corea when it reached 2700 pieces. That $350 per truffle.

Delafee sold out their Plum Blossom Chocolate and Gold Lollipops in seconds, and their 24-karat Gold Chocolate Box with a collectible solid gold coin bearing the Royal Court’s plum blossom insignia, retailing at $899, sold out in one day.

Coreans snapped them up. These were the gifts to be had. Men thought they were pretty much in the clear in pleasing their women.

Until photos came out of the queen wearing the legendary J12 X-ray, made almost entirely in sapphire crystal.

The J12 X-ray and its transparent sapphire crystal face and 5.46 carats of baguette diamonds, with the gear train seemingly suspended in midair

Aside from the watch hands, train wheels, mainspring, metal hinges and components, if the parts aren’t sapphire crystal, it’s diamond, and where it’s not made of diamond, it’s in white gold. The hour markers are diamonds. The bezel is diamond. The face and bracelet are all sapphire crystal.

As it often goes in Corean media, the photos zooming in on the queen’s wrist were immediately taken down. For security purposes, and some ahjummas said it’s so the queen’s bespoke watch won’t be imitated.

There are only twelve of these watches to be made in the world, and aside from the queen of Corea, we have not yet seen it on anyone else. The availability is still TBA.

Sapphire crystal bracelet, plate and bridges. The luxury and rarity comes from the difficulty and expense of machining and working with sapphire crystal, the second hardest material next to diamonds.

It’s so fitting that royalty is the first to be seen with this watch, and not just any royalty, but the queen of Corea, who does seem to like Chanel watches.

See our Queens Day Recap, where the queen wore the Chanel Boyfriend watch.

Here’s Her Majesty photographed wearing the J12 Phantom last year

And I think the king’s in trouble, because I rather think the queen had no idea she was wearing $626,000 on her wrist when she and the king appeared at the UAAC Baseball season pre-opening friendly match.

The Prime Minister was also there, along with CorGen Obstetrics Chief Chae Song-eun, the queen’s OB.

The Royal Public Affairs Office declined to comment, but in his monthly televised panel today with the Ministries of Finance and Commerce, the press asked His Majesty about the watch as the meeting wound down, and the king answered it with laughter.

“I did hear that men are furious with me? I’m sorry but the watch is very much the queen’s style. The sapphire crystal means the band and the watch face are indestructible. I happen to choose Her Majesty’s accessories in that criteria.

“If you can afford to buy your wife and the mother of your child an expensive gift, why not? This country owes a lot to its women--don’t forget we have a Queens Day because we owe our queens so much-- give them expensive gifts! The most expensive you can afford without bankrupting yourself and getting yourself killed by your wife, of course.”

Seeing as the king is very much alive and his blissfully happy self as ever, we can assume the queen has forgiven him.

And now I bet all the luxury brands in the world are gearing up with their own sapphire crystal and/or timepiece offerings.

And while the J12 X-ray’s price is astronomical, I have to agree with the king that it’s definitely the queen’s style. That is to say, it’s absolutely wearable, unlike the million dollar diamond watches Harry Winston, Cartier, Chopard and their ilk have made.

We do wonder what the queen has given the king for Valentine’s Day, but perhaps bearing the heir to the Corean throne is beyond enough.

Our countdown to that happy day continues!

#CoreaNews #CoreaFiction #the king eternal monarch #the king: eternal monarch #CoreaStories

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taylizmasterpost · 4 years

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Swiftgron Shows Up, Liz Spirals (March 2012 - September 2012)

This is not going to be a timeline of Swiftgron and their relationship. For that, you can go to the @swiftgronmasterpost. This is just to show how, when things got serious with Dianna, things deteriorated between Taylor and Liz:

25 March 2012 - Swiftgron go watch the Hunger Games together. Taylor follows Dianna on Twitter afterwards. This is likely their first actual date:

27 March 2012 - Liz tweets this:

Was this in response to Swifgron’s first date? Maybe. Was Liz jealous Taylor had pulled the exact same move on Dianna that she’d pulled on her back in 2009 when she took her to Valentine’s Day? Also maybe. But also maybe not. Still, #Lizgototherapychallenge.

30 March 2012 - Taylor introduces Dianna to her mom, they all get dinner together:

12 April 2012 - Dianna blows a kiss to Taylor on Jimmy Kimmel.

18 April 2012 - Mutual friend Chantelle tweets that she spent the night and early morning hanging out with TayLiz.

Chantelle will post a picture of her, Taylor and Liz hanging out in a kitchen together almost a year later -- when the girls don’t seem to be on speaking terms -- making me think this picture was taken on this night:

24 April 2012 - Swiftgron Shirley MacLane party happens:

27 April 2012 - Taylor and someone (possibly Liz) are papped getting lunch together in LA. The secret message for the song “The Last Time,” which will be written in a few months, is “LA On Your Break.” They’re certainly in LA, and the tour is certainly on break. Perhaps this is Taylor finally ending things with Liz.

Liz tweets at Taylor about Skittles later that day, making me think it was her at lunch.

28 April 2012 - Dianna’s birthday party. Taylor dresses as a tiger and leaves a note on the door with a joke they’d made that reads “I’m a little kitten and I need to nurse because I’m a runt and I’m likely to fall victim to predators.”

10 May 2012 - Taylor posts on Instagram “Going back to Nashville. Thinking about the whole thing. Guess you gotta run sometimes.”

This is from the song Nashville by David Mead. Other interesting lyrics include:

You’re a distant memory, you’re an exit sign I was talking crazy on the driver’s side

I was talking crazy on the driver’s side I will always love you like a long goodbye

The driving references are interesting, considering that Red has the theme of driving all over it. “I will always love you like a long goodbye” also seems to support the theory that Taylor has just finally broken things off with Liz.

15 May 2012 - Taylor finishes writing Everything Has Changed with Ed Sheeran then gets dinner with Dianna Ashley and Claire. The original lyrics of Everything Has Changed talk about “falling for a Gemini,” which describes Gemini Liz, but Taylor seems to have re-fitted the song to be about Dianna and removed those lyrics:

27 May 2012 - Liz’s birthday. Taylor does not tweet at her. No pictures are posted of the party, if there is one.

28 May 2012 - Taylor and Ed record Everything Has Changed:

Late May 2012 - Taylor writes The Last Time:

Here’s what she had to say about the inspiration for the song:

The Last Time is a hard song for me to analyze, not because I don’t have theories about what it means, but because I think Taylor is oversimplifying the story here. To me, looking at this song, assuming it’s about Liz, it reads less like a pleading “baby I want you back” song, and more like an “I’m losing you to addiction song.”

We haven’t fully gotten into this yet, but Liz was dealing with a lot of mental and internal shit at this time. According to rumor, she’s about to be let go from The Agency due to getting “out of control,” and the songs she writes this summer, including Wreck of Who I Am, definitely seem to imply she was trying to claw her way out of a spiral here. When I listen to The Last Time through this lens, it feels more like a last chance, pleading intervention.

Wreck of Who I Am:

And the tide is strong that it keeps me from the land

And I’m low on faith and I pray with shaky hands

Well it hurts like hell tryna tell myself

This ain’t the only thing that’s meant for me

Gotta piece back together the wreck of who I am

The Last Time

This is the last time I’m asking you this

Put my name at the top of your list

This is the last time I’m asking you why

You break my heart in the blink of an eye

And there’s also the fact that The Last Time seems like it was written on if not around Liz’s birthday (May 27).

3 June 2012 - Dianna jokes at the GLAAD Awards about having kissed girls before:

4 June 2012 - Liz does some songwriting of her own with Seth Jones and Megan Mace:

Taylor and Liz’s dresses from Mean are placed next to each other at the Speak Now Tour Exhibition:

10 June 2012 - Taylor diaries about recording 22, and IKYWT, says she’s already written WANEGBT:

Story behind WANEGBT: I wrote it with Max Martin and Johan Shellback who are two of my songwriting heroes, they’re amazing. And we were in the studio, and we were writing a different song and this guy walks in who I- was- A friend of someone I had previously… dated. And he comes in and he’s like “Oh, I hear you and [redacted] are getting back together” and um that was like his opening line. And we weren’t. We’d done that whole like on/off on/off just the worst. Bleh. And um… And so when he left I just turned to Max and I was like “We are never getting back together. What? That’s ridiculous!” Um and I told them the whole situation as I do ‘cause I tend to share, as you know. And so uh he just looked at me and he was like “I know the song we’re writing today. Let’s start a new one.” And so I got the guitar and it just sort of happened and so uh this is that song.

So what we know from this is that it is HIGHLY more likely that a friend of Liz just happened to walk into the studio that day than a friend of either Jake or Dianna (I’m guessing someone from The Agency maybe? Taylor seems to fumble when choosing how to describe them)

Martin and Shellback are credited on three songs on red -- WANEGBT, IKYWT, and 22. We know Taylor wrote 22 here. She also says she “came back to trouble.” From that I can assume they were trying to write IKYWT when this story took place.

The secret message for WANEGBT is “When I stopped caring what you thought.” To me, this really signals things have broken down between them. Rather than the pleading in The Last Time, this is song is much more distant and moved on, where Taylor is able to have a sense of humor about the breakup.

18 June 2012 - A friend of Liz’s tweets this at Taylor (am I the only one sensing some shade??):

1 July 2012 - Liz does some songwriting in Nashville:

Between this session and the session on the fourth, presumably the songs she’d release later that winter (One Hand On the Wheel, Wreck of Who I Am, and Blessed Are the Brokenhearted) are written here, making it seem like Liz is processing both some depression and a breakup of some sort.

8 July 2012 - Taylor takes pictures with a fan at a coffee shop (presumably in Nashville). According to the fan’s account, Liz was also there, sitting at the table behind them. The fan ends up taking pictures with both Liz and Taylor:

I’m not entirely sure what this means for them. Obviously Taylor has just written The Last Time (presumably about Liz) and then gone off to Hy(i)annis port with Dianna to go frolic in the waves and all that, so I don’t think this means TayLiz is back on. However, we know from fan accounts (which I’ll get to in a second) that Liz thought she was going to be coming on the Red Tour until she was let go from The Agency in September. Perhaps this is some amount of reconciliation? A check in? An ultimatum to get her act together or she won’t be allowed on tour?

Truthfully, we can’t know for sure. But this is one of their last hang outs together (that we know of) this year.

13 August 2012 - Taylor’s Red Youtube Webchat. She describes what some of the songs on the album are about

22: This is a song that I wrote with Max Martin and Johan Shellback and it’s a song about the way I spent my summer when I was finishing this album. Kind of hanging out with my friends all the time and I really decided that I love being twenty two. It’s um kind of my favorite age that I’ve ever been. I kind of have like different theories of the years in my life and like what they meant and 22 has been so much fun. It’s- it’s been so much fun and I decided to write a song about that and just all the ridiculous nonsense that my friends and I got into. And, um, so this one’s called 22.

Treacherous: This is a song that I wrote with Dan Wilson… I’ve always wanted to work with him. So I called him and um it turned out that he was into the idea of working with me. And um so I went in with this idea and uh we wrote a song about when you’re falling for someone and you know that it’s dangerous. And you know that it could really really really really really just annihilate you if it were to not work out and it could possibly not work out and it probably won’t work out, but you go for it anyway. And so this is called Treacherous.

31 August 2012 - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together is released as a single. The MV features the rest of the Agency, but not Liz. Fans take notice.

13 September 2012 - The news breaks that Liz is leaving The Agency and will not be on the Red Tour:

Interestingly enough, according to the L Chat, Liz had been telling fans that she was planning on going on the Red Tour before this point, so something must’ve happened:

And because of this fan encounter below, we have somewhat of an idea of what it was:

So from the combined events of this summer we know this about Liz being let go:

1) Liz wrote songs that summer about having a hard time and trying to claw her way out of it.

2) Taylor and Liz met up twice that summer, and Taylor did not acknowledge Liz’s birthday publicly.

3) Taylor may have written The Last Time, a song about begging someone to choose you over other things (possibly addiction) on Liz’s birthday.

4) Liz thought she was going on The Red Tour.

5) Liz was fired for “getting out of control.”

The picture this paints to me is that, while Liz was spiraling, Taylor was trying to help her, using coming on the Red Tour as a reward for getting her act together. When she ultimately couldn’t, presumably after that meeting in July, Taylor had no choice but to ask her to leave the Agency, since hardcore intense tour life is likely the last thing Liz needed to get better. This is a really difficult and hard situation, regardless of whether or not the two women were ever sexually or romantically involved.

Fortunately, as we’ll see moving forward, this seems to be the wake up call Liz needed to start the process of getting back on her feet. However, it’s clear that for at least a little bit after this, Taylor became a taboo topic around Liz. But ask anyone who’s dealt with addiction or helped a friend/family member through it -- there’s some resentment that’s bound to happen, even towards the people trying to help.

20 September 2012 - Liz spends “quality time” with Claire and Taylor:

I personally read this as one last hurrah of the trio after Liz was not asked back for the Red Tour. The “not mad at this day” feels a little weird to me too, and I can’t tell if it’s supposed to be shade or not. Either way, this is the last major interaction between Taylor and Liz for a while.

IN CONCLUSION: Liz had her demons. Whether this is what caused the end of her and Taylor’s relationship or something else, it’s almost certainly what caused her to not be asked back on the Red Tour. In the winter, she would release the music she was writing over the summer, making it clear she was going through some shit, probably not helped by seeing Taylor so obviously move on with Dianna. But this is the low point. Things with Liz can only go up from here.

Liz After the Agency (September 2012 - September 2014)

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ryqoshay · 4 years

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Happy Life: Cat Café

Primary Pairing: YohaRiko Words: ~2.7k Rating: G AU: Angelic? Time Frame: Early February of Riko’s 2nd year and Yoshiko’s 1st year of high school Story Arc: Stand Alone

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Author’s Note: 2020 was a bit of a blur for me, so I’m not sure why I decided to start writing this scene well after Valentine’s and after I had already posted a YohaRiko Vday scene earlier in the year. And yet, despite confirming on Sukutomo that the cards that inspired this scene were released in 2020, it feels like I’ve been writing this since 2019. Probably doesn’t help that 2019 was also a blur for me as well...

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“Welcome, Aqours!” The café owner greeted with arms open wide.

“Thank you for having us.” Dia replied with a bow.

“Th-Thank you…” Ruby also bowed next to her sister.

“Please take care of us.” You followed suit.

Chika, Kanan and Riko were about to offer greetings of their own when they were interrupted.

“Mirai, zura!” Hanamaru marveled, eyes wide as she took in the scene before her.

“<Shiny!>” Mari exclaimed, grabbing a themed cat toy with a sparkling pink heart near the end. Immediately, she began dangling it in front of a cat on a nearby platform.

“Ku ku ku” Yoshiko chuckled. “The fallen angel Yohane needs not such trinkets to attract a new familiar!” She pointed to a cat with leopard spots. “Tepēyōllōtl! Yohane summons thee to her side!”

For its part, the cat continued on its way past the group with nary a glance toward the blue-haired first-year.

“Cait Sidhe!” She tried again with a white bellied black cat. “Thou shall make a fine familiar for Yohane!”

To her credit, at least this time, the feline in question turned its head at the call but made no move to approach.

“Tepe-whatsit?” Hanamaru inquired. “Kite Shee? What kind of strange names are you trying to give them?”

“No stranger than Laelaps…” Riko murmured under her breath.

“Sorry for that.” Dia apologized to the owner.

“Don’t worry about it.” The owner chuckled at the continuing antics. “Many of the cats here actually don’t have names yet.” She explained. “If you girls can get them to respond to some you might come up with, we will certainly consider them.”

Several of the gathered school idols gave their affirmations.

“So, if you’ll follow me” the owner continued “we’ve set up a changing area in one of our private rooms. The photography company has already placed your outfits in each section.”

And yet another Valentine’s Day theme. Riko thought to herself as she followed her fellow second years to the mentioned room. There, she found her area as designated by a small handwritten sign. She pushed back the sheet to enter and found a pair of costumes.

So we’re doing idolized versions as well this time. She continued to muse to herself as she changed into the one that seemed more appropriate of a normal café employee, the one not decked out with lace and ribbons and extra accessories. Despite this not being for the idol magazine…

In fact, though they were utilizing the same publishing company to take the pictures and assist with costuming, this photoshoot was instead being sponsored by the café itself. The pictures were to be used for advertising and celebrating their grand opening. So, in that light, perhaps it wasn’t just another Valentine’s set. And the outfits were quite cute.

“Alright,” The head photographer said as the girls began to exit their changing booths “if I could have Kunikida-san, Kurosawa-san and Tsushima-san follow me to the kitchen.”

“You mean me, right?” Ruby asked, pointing to herself.

The woman checked her list. “Ah yes, that’s right, sorry for not being clear.”

“The kitchen?” Yoshiko inquired. “Are we not taking pictures with the kitties?” There was no mistaking the disappointment in her voice.

“We want to get a few pictures of everyone performing duties of the café as well.” The photographer explained.

“Yoshiko-chan just wants to play with the cats.” Hanamaru teased.

“Of course!” Yoshiko rebuked as she reluctantly followed the others. “They’re all so adorable and deserve all of the attention and affection we can give them. And I intend to do my fair share.”

“Probably more than your fair share.”

Whatever Yoshiko said in reply was cut off by the door closing behind the group heading to the kitchen.

Riko felt a small smile turn her lips as she realized that the younger girl cared far more about the animals than the photoshoot. Not that this came as any surprise to her, based on the behavior she had observed with Anko, but she couldn’t deny that she saw an endearing quality to it all.

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The grey cat sniffed the collar in Riko’s hand once before stepping closer. Gently, Riko slid the faux leather band around the cat’s neck and secured it. She then leaned back to admire the accessory and decided she’d made the right choice. Pink worked well with grey.

Riko smiled as the cat climbed up into her lap then giggled as she continued to climb and stretch up to lick her cheek.

“Perfect.” The photographer spoke up. “I think that might be the shot.” Though saying as much, he continued to snap more pictures in case an even better one presented itself.

Suddenly the cat’s ears perked up and her head snapped around to the side. Riko followed her gaze and after a moment was barely able to pick up a tiny, plaintive mewl.

“Sorry, sorry, Bastet!” Yoshiko’s voice followed. “I didn’t mean to sca-kyaa!”

Riko flinched as a thump sounded and the whole structure of a nearby tower bumped up, disturbing the half dozen cats perched upon it. Due to the commotion caused by the younger girl, Riko barely noticed that the grey cat had leaped out of her lap and made a beeline for where Yoshiko was now backing out from under the structure.

“I’ll leave this here for you for when you decide to come out, alright?” Yoshiko said gently before pulling herself out completely. “Hear that, Kankyo, Nunogire?” She directed her attention to the two cats who had not fled the tower. “That treat is for Bastet. But you can have… oh, hey there.” Her gaze shifted once again, this time to the grey cat who had arrived at her side and seemed to be staring daggers at her.

“Seems you met the shiest of our new arrivals.” A nearby staff member commented. “And earned the ire of another.”

“Who, her?” Yoshiko questioned as she let the grey cat sniff her finger before petting her. “Seems Anhur is just a little protective of the little baby, nothing to wrong with that.”

Anhur? Riko’s knowledge of the Egyptian pantheon was not the greatest, but she was fairly certain Anhur was the brother of Bastet, not her sister.

“They’re both quite protective of her.”

“Both?” Yoshiko asked.

The young woman glanced around for a moment before saying, “Oh, here he comes.” Sure enough, a golden chinchilla cat came trotting around the corner. “We took all three in at the same time and they bonded almost immediately.”

“Such a good big brother, Horus.” Yoshiko grinned as she reached over to introduce herself to the newly arrived cat. “Sorry I scared your little Bastet, I was actually just trying to follow Kankyo.”

“You’re still trying to give them names?” Riko inquired, moving over to the grey cat she had been working with earlier.

“They’re all too cute to not have equally cute names to refer to them with.” Yoshiko replied in a tone similar to the one Riko remembered her using when fawning over Nocturne. “Isn’t that right, Anhur?” She scratched under the grey cat’s chin before giggling as the golden cat refused to be left out and began petting himself on her free hand.

Did naming cats after Egyptian gods count as cute? Well, Bastet made sense as she was feline in nature, but the others…

“Cute collar, by the way.” Yoshiko commented, offering a treat to the grey cat… Anhur, apparently.

“I thought it would look good on her.”

“You have good taste.”

Riko was about to thank the other girl for the praise when she noticed something. “Say, those don’t look like the treats we were given, where did you get them?”

“Oh…” Yoshiko chuckled a bit abashedly. “Yeah, I ran out a while ago, and even went through a second bag they gave me… so I bought more.”

“You’re on your third bag already?”

“I can’t help it!” Yoshiko admitted. “They’re all such good kitties! And even Tepe and Sidhe wouldn’t ignore me when there were tasty treats to be had. And head pats, of course. And lots of scratchies and belly rubs.” She seemed rather proud of the last part.

Riko smiled. The younger girl certainly was enjoying herself. And was displaying a rather rare side of her personality; her grandiose entrance and continued use of strange names notwithstanding, Yoshiko seemed to have all but forgotten her fallen angel persona. She hadn’t even used her strange nickname for Riko, despite Riko deciding to allow it just the other day, for the time being, at least. Yoshiko may have still used Hanamaru’s nickname though, at some point.

“Well, if you run through that bag, I’ll let you use some of mine.” Riko offered after a moment.

“Thanks, but those are yours.” Yoshiko shook her head. “Far be it for me to deprive you of your own bonding experience with these adorable purr boxes.”

“You seem to be bonding quite well with them.”

“The treats help.”

I believe it’s more than just the food. Riko thought to herself as the other girl turned to offer a few niblets to another cat.

Riko looked up to see some of the other girls heading back to the changing room. “I think it’s time for the second round.” She said to Yoshiko.

“Alright,” Yoshiko nodded as she inspected her stash of treats. “I’ll join you guys in a minute.” She upended the bag into her palm and started distributing the remaining pieces among the cats gathered around her.

----------

“We should probably get a few shots of your iconic poses.” The photographer said. “Your fans always comment on them when we put them to print.”

“Very well.” Yoshiko nodded. “If that is what my little demons demand, Yohane shall accommodate.”

Riko glanced over from where she was posing for her own shots. Was that the first time Yoshiko had mentioned her fallen angel name since the group had arrived? And she hadn’t even dropped her voice to do so? Strange.

“Good, that will… oh?” Despite expressing her surprise, the woman’s fingers did not stop pressing the shutter button and continued to capture the scene in front of her.

“Eh?” Yoshiko glanced down. “Bastet?”

So that was the kitten Yoshiko had been so intent on befriending earlier. Riko watched with amusement as the small cat jumped and batted at the large ribbon streaming from the back of Yoshiko’s outfit. Of course Yoshiko would pursue a black cat.

“I think that’s the best one yet.” The photographer commented, checking the screen on her device. “I’ll let you two be.” She added before turning away.

Yoshiko laughed merrily and pulled at the ribbon to move it more for the cat playing with it. “But of course!” She replied, not seeming to notice the photographer was already leaving. “Any shot with a kitty as cute as Bastet in it is going to be the best.” She knelt to pet the cat who rolled onto her back to paw at the hand rubbing her belly.

“I must say, I’m impressed.” A staff member said as he paused to watch. “I’ve never seen that one out of hiding, especially without the other two nearby.”

“She just wanted to play.” Yoshiko barely looked up at the young man. “Although, you’re right.” She glanced around for a moment. “Ne, Bastet, shall we go find Anhur and Horus?”

As if understanding the question, Bastet jumped up towards her. Yoshiko didn’t appear to have been ready, but managed to catch the cat anyway, throwing herself off balance in the process. She quickly righted herself and laughed while cradling the kitten in her arms.

“Sakurauchi-san, if you could pose something like this?” The young woman working with Riko held her arms up with hands mimicking cat paws.

“Eh?” Riko turned her attention back to her own photo session. “Sorry, urhm…” that pose is kind of embarrassing… “will this do?”

“Perfect.”

----------

“Oh, is that the time?” You asked, looking at her phone. “Geez, I really need to head out.”

“I’ll go with you, You-chan.” Chika said. “You coming too, Riko-chan?”

“Uhm, one moment.” The redhead surveyed those around her. “Do we have everyone?”

The photoshoot had come to an end and the crew had already packed up and left. The girls had changed back into their street clothes before accepting an invitation to stay for a light snack provided by the café. But now things were winding down and everyone was looking to head home for dinner or to study or whatever other plans they had for the evening.

“We’re missing Yoshiko-chan.” Ruby pointed out.

“I don’t think she left our table.” Hanamaru chimed in.

Sure enough, as Riko scanned the area they had left a few minutes ago, there remained a blue-haired girl still lounging on the booth bench. Riko sighed and made her way back.

“We’re all heading out, Yoshiko-chan.” She said as she approached.

“This place is surely heaven on earth.” Yoshiko sighed contently as she closed her eyes and leaned back.

Wait for it… … What? That was it? Nothing about angels or demons or…?

Yoshiko’s smile grew as Bastet wrapped her front paws around her arm and nuzzled into the crook of her elbow. Anhur, Horus, Sidhe, Tepe, Kankyo, Nunogire and several others Riko couldn’t remember, but likely had received strange names, surrounded Yoshiko; on her lap, at her side and even across the top of the bench behind her head. Their combined purring could be heard from halfway across the room.

“I think this place broke Yoshiko-chan…” Hanamaru mused as she caught up.

Or fixed her, Riko thought to herself, this is the most at ease I’ve ever seen her. And she looks pretty cute sitting there, surrounded by cats and apparently about to fall asleep. She may very well have found her heaven here on Earth.

“I think…” Riko started “I might stay for a little while longer as well.”

“You sure?” Chika asked. “We could just wake her up.”

Riko shook her head. “I think we should let her rest. She had a busy afternoon.”

“Yoshiko-chan did have the most fun today, I think.” Ruby pointed out.

“Anyway,” Riko continued “I don’t want her to wake up and think we all abandoned her. And I don’t have anything in particular planned tonight anyway.”

“Oh, alright.” Chika shrugged. “You-chan, wait up!” She scurried away to chase the departing ash-haired girl.

As the rest of the girls said their goodbyes, Riko took a seat on the bench next to Yoshiko. Or, at least as next to her as allowed by the gathered cats.

“Care to order anything while you wait for your friend to wake up?” A menu entered Riko’s field of vision. “You girls worked hard today, so feel free to pick out whatever you want.”

Riko looked up to see the smiling face of the café owner. “Thank you, but you already gave us a snack a little while ago.”

“True, but I have a feeling you two might be here a little while.” The woman nodded her chin towards Yoshiko.

“Right, uhm… do you mind if I get something for Yoshiko-chan as well?”

“Of course, if you see something she might like.”

Riko scanned the menu, easily settling on a sandwich that looked good. And something for… her eyes found chocolate covered strawberries. Perfect. She placed her order.

“Just a dessert for her?” The owner inquired.

“She can have half of my sandwich if she wants, in exchange for some of her strawberries.”

“Very well, we’ll bring that right out.”

“Thank you.”

Riko smiled as she glanced over at the sleeping girl beside her, surrounded by a purring mass of fur. There was no denying this side of Yoshiko was incredibly adorable.

Riko pulled her tablet out of her bag, set it up on the table and continued her work on the new song on which she and Chika were working. A few minutes later, a server came by to drop off the food she had ordered. Riko swapped half of each item onto the other plate and slid one closer to Yoshiko’s side.

Though the official holiday was still a little ways off, Riko couldn’t help saying, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Yoshiko-chan.” before returning to her work.

----------

Author’s Note Continued in Followup Post

#YohaRiko #YoshiRiko #Sakurauchi Riko #Tsushima Yohane #Love Live Sunshine #Happy Life #fanfic #Tsushima Yoshiko #Happy Valentine's Day!

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darlingsdevil · 4 years

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The Ballads of Rebirth (Arthur Morgan x Reader)

Chapter 17: Epilogue

Masterlist

Tag list: @rollyjogerjones

A/N: This is it. This is the end. I wrote a little message for all of you to read, it would mean a lot if you did.

When I began this story a few days after Christmas, I wrote it on a whim. The story brewed in my mind for perhaps a max week before I began writing it. The original idea was inspired a lot by Big Fish the Musical, the musical I was in, in early December. I remember I used to write day after day and could get a chapter up daily, until around the sixth or seventh chapter. I can’t quite tell you how I did it, but I know if I hadn’t gotten that far so quickly, I would have never finished this story, it would have been added to my never ending pile of unfinished WIP’s. The Ballads of Rebirth was supposed to go in an entirely different direction that I had planned, Lee and Arthur’s feud was supposed to be way worse and bitter, and would have ended up with Arthur beating up Lee. Lee was supposed to be much more of an antagonist in the final chapters, a way worse of a person, but I couldn’t do it to him. In many ways, he was flawed, he was selfish at times and quick to judge, but he was still loving and goofy. I know people were not going to like him, they were rooting for Arthur after all. But I still love Lee, he was my first official rdr2 oc, my first fully fleshed out character. Quite frankly, I didn’t really ‘know’ who he was until I continued writing it, I had no personality built out for him until I began writing, and I just chose what felt right. That’s what happens with a lot of my stories, I write what feels right (which usually leads to plot holes because I don’t write shit down). But regardless, I love Lee, and I hope you’re satisfied with the ending I gave him.

There were a few times that I thought about giving up, that my story was absolute shit, that my plot holes were too confusing and my narrative was weak, and I was close to quitting. Until people began asking me when the new chapters would be out, what would happen next. While the numbers may be small, the dedication is what kept me going. And yeah, maybe my story isn’t the biggest rdr2 fic, maybe it’s not talked about in discord servers, but I don’t care, all that matters is that the fans that have stayed have shown me that I should continue writing, that there are people rooting for this story. I know, my story is full of plot holes, I know people don’t like Lee (which I’ll forever be bitter about), I know my story has grammatical errors, I know maybe I shouldn’t have killed off Mahala, I know there’s a lot I could have done, but there’s a lot I still did. As much as I think my story is weak, I’m still proud of the fact that I made it, that it is my own, that I created it and stuck through.

Sometimes, it’s not about what you could have done, it’s what you did. And that’s more valuable in many ways. Creating anything is powerful, and The Ballads of Rebirth taught me that.

So thank you, to every commentator, every person who left a like or kudo, every person who left an ask in my inbox, and especially everyone who complimented my writing style (which is apparently unique? and also these comments are a huge ego boost to me so if I’m cocky, it’s those peoples fault). Thank you for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoyed what I made.

I know I did.

••

Here Are Some Songs That Inspired This Story

1. Setting Sun - Lord Huron (Main inspiration)

2. Prologue - Starry (What I consider to be the main theme)

3. Sunlight and Storms - Starry (Inspiration for Lee and Reader’s relationship)

4. The Road - Starry (yeah.. I know there’s lots of Starry, but regardless, Arthur’s arc inspiration)

5. After The War - Stars (wow lots of star-esque things, Epilogue inspiration, I recommend listening to it while reading this)

•••

PS. The AU ending will be posted with the main story, as I realized many of you may not see it otherwise.

•••

Time passed quickly and solemnly. Life was peaceful and quiet. And you loved every second of it. After you and Arthur had left Richfield in search of the life you had lost, you and your husband had found it with Charles, in a small cottage down the road from him. Charles was happy to see you and Arthur returned to him.

And life was quiet, for a long time it was. You heard nothing of Micah and Dutch, the Pinkerton’s had stopped searching, it seemed the outlaw way had died out long ago too. You were scared Arthur or you would somehow slip back into it. you would blink and suddenly be pulled back into the life you so desperately tried to avoid, but the pull never came. The older you got, the lesser and lesser that percentage became.

The people of Wapiti had long since moved. You visited Mahala’s grave frequently, and thanked her for bringing Arthur back to you. You were sure you would have liked her.

You thanked Charles too, for being quick to find him. It was strange to think that without Charles’ swift action, Arthur would not be here today. Instead, you would be visiting his grave instead of Mahala’s.

John was exceptionally pleased to hear Arthur was still alive. Abigail wrote frequently to you for many years, you missed her dearly, but you had faith you would be reunited once more.

“Honey?” You called out to the doorway behind you.

“G’morning. I got what you asked me to pick up,” Arthur replied. You looked over your shoulder and smiled at him. He placed the box down at the table.

“Thank you. Breakfast is almost ready,” You said, scrambling some eggs on top of the stove. Arthur came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist.

“Someone’s touchy today,” You laughed, shaking your head.

“Missed you.” He nuzzled his face into your neck.

“You were gone for a day.”

“I’m not allowed to miss my dear wife?” He pretended to sound hurt.

“Not when you’re distracting me,” You replied nonchalantly, continuing to prepare the omelettes.

Arthur laughed heartily in your ear. “I give up then,” he said, removing his hold from your waist and putting his hands up in defeat.

“It’s almost ready, sit down.” You put the finishing touches on the omelettes and put them on plates. Arthur sat down at the small table while you fetched some forks. You stared through the window while your hands grabbed two forks, seeing the daffodils on the window, Arthur had bought for you a few days earlier.

You walked over to the table and set down the two plates, taking a seat across from Arthur. He grabbed at the plate hungrily and began to eat.

“You sure are hungry.”

“Starvin’. Been a day since I’ve had your lovely cooking,” Arthur smiled at you. You picked up your fork as well and began to eat.

“I forgot the coffee, hold on.” You realized after a few moments and walked over to the countertop to fetch the pot of coffee, pouring two cups for Arthur and you. You made yours how you liked it, and brought cream and sugar over to Arthur.

“Thank you,” He replied to the gesture, grabbing his cup. He put in a few spoonfuls of sugar and some cream, always the one with the sweet tooth.

You sipped your coffee while you ate your breakfast, glancing out towards the front windows. It was a nice day out, clear of clouds with a nice breeze. The garden still needed tending to, but at least later you could sit on the porch with Arthur.

“I invited Charles over for dinner tonight, by the way. I’m making roast beef and potatoes, and maybe an apple pie, I haven’t decided yet,” You shrugged.

“Make blueberry.” Arthur replied, picking up a newspaper from yesterday that was on the table.

“Blueberries aren’t in season.”

“Okay, then raspberry.”

“Not in season either.”

“Really? Well shit. Apple will have to do then.”

“You don’t like my apple pies?”

“What? No, I do! You just make them a lot. I feel like we’re having them every week,” Arthur laughed nervously.

You pretended to glare at him, “Then I’ll never make another apple pie again. You’re getting pie with no filling in all of them now.”

“Now I didn’t say that! I’m just saying, you make apple pies a lot, I like variety sometimes.”

“You lived with the gang for 20 years and ate the same stew for every meal but you’re complaining about me making apple pie once a week?” You raised your eyebrow at him.

“That’s why I like variety now. Couldn’t have it for so long, that once I get it I’ll never go back to eating the same thing.”

“Mhm.” You dragged out the sound, nodding sarcastically.

You stared at Arthur, he stared at you, a slight smile on his lips. “Just admit you don’t like my apple pies.”

“Would it make you happy if I said that?”

“No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know!”

“Listen, I like your apple pies, honestly. I just like some variety, that’s all,” He said, attempting to quell your fake anger.

“I’m never making an apple pie ever again,” You replied dramatically, slumping onto the table, reaching your hands out to hold his.

Arthur chucked at your dramatics.

“Just eat your omelette.”

•••

You thought of Lee frequently. Not that you yearned for him, or missed him, you simply wondered how he was doing. And in a way, he had heard your thoughts, after about two years of silence from him, Lee sent a letter.

“You have a letter,” Arthur had said one night when he came back from town, placing the letter on the table in front of you.

“Who’s it from?”

“Lee.”

“Lee sent me a letter?” You asked in disbelief, grabbing the envelope and examining the name on the front. Leroy Rinascita. Clear as day.

(Y/N),

It’s been quite some time since you left Richfield. I hope this letter finds you well. I took a chance and sent a letter to Valentine, a city Arthur had mentioned to me before, so if I don’t hear from you, I assume you’re somewhere else off in the country.

I hope you’re pleased with the choices you made. How is Arthur, by the way? I know we started off on the wrong foot (for good reason) but overall I found him to be a good, kind man. I can tell Arthur makes a good husband. I pray he’s not too angry with how I acted earlier towards him, water under the bridge, right?

I apologize for not sending a letter sooner, or perhaps I’m sorry for even writing this, in case you find this letter strange. I just wanted to know how you are doing. I’m doing well too. I’ve found someone as well who I enjoy very much, they live with me now. I guess you can say we got married, about two months ago actually. It wasn’t a conventional marriage of course. You actually already met them. I’m not sure you would expect who, but for the sake of prying eyes, I won’t reveal who they are in this letter. Other than marriage, life’s been pretty normal. The general store is doing well, there’s some new projects in the city too. A new candy store opened by the pier after the old one unfortunately burned down a few months after you had left. Richfield is bigger now, I feel like it’ll never stop growing. More and more people show up everyday. I barely even know the neighbors names these days.

As for my father, I’m pleased to say he’s still kicking. Somehow, the cancer went away, I couldn’t tell you how, the doctors can’t either. I’m really grateful for you convincing him to stay alive, to stay for me.

Your locket is still with me, I found an old family photo of my father, my mother and Anastasia as a newborn. It was strange to see my mother’s face after so many years, I had nearly forgotten it. I have an older photo of Anastasia too on the other side, my partner isn’t in the locket, only because I see them daily. I don’t need to be reminded that I love them.

But enough talk of me, how are you doing? I know it’s been a while, but I still care about you, and hope to know you’re doing well. Give Arthur a hello for me as well.

Regards,

Lee

You were happy to know Lee still cared, in some horrible nightmare you imagined that he despised you, that you were simply a dark phase in his life. And you were even happier that Lee had found someone and was truly living the life he had wanted. In a way, you were the same as him, both yearning for peace and quiet.

“Lee’s been doing well. I’m glad he sent this letter, he says hello to you, Arthur,” You told him, setting the letter down on the table.

“Good. I’m glad Lee’s doing okay.”

“Yeah, me too.”

•••

Even though Beecher’s Hope had many people living off its land, it did not feel crowded. Perhaps it was the sky that made it feel that way, the sky was endless, and when you and your family worked underneath it, it did not feel so small. The sky was infinite.

“Jack, will you go get Anne for me? She’s out by the chicken coop,” You had told the teenager.

“Sure thing, Aunt (Y/N),” He replied, walking towards the front door to fetch Anne for dinner. Although the Marston and Morgan houses were separate, the two families had practically lived in both. Jack was eating over for dinner, John and Abigail claiming you as his babysitter. Not that he needed one — or perhaps Uncle did.

“Arthur? Will you set the table for me, please? I have to go get Anne washed up once Jack brings her in,” You called out to Arthur behind you.

“Sure.” Arthur responded, he picked up the dishes next to you and began placing them on the table.

As you finished up cooking, you heard the shrill voice of Anne calling out to you. You immediately swiveled around as her tiny legs bounced up to you.

“There’s my little one!” You said joyously, she wrapped her arms around your leg and giggled. She was a near carbon copy of Arthur. She had his nose, his eyes, his mouth shape, but she had your hair and complexion. Regardless of who she looked more like — she was yours.

“Mama! I brought you a feather from the chicken coop!” She reached into her tiny dress pocket and pulled out a white feather. It was bigger and heavier than a chicken feather, you wondered what type of bird it was.

“Sorry, Uncle Arthur, she kind of made a mess in the chicken coop,” You heard Jack say to Arthur.

“You did? Oh thank you, sweetie.” You beamed at her, she watched you take it with big proud eyes. You placed the feather in your pocket, it’s long feathers sticking out.

“You’re welcome, mama.” You noticed the dirt on her face and on her knees as she said that. You scooped her up in your arms and took her into the bathroom to wash up.

You set her down next to the sink and began washing her knees with a wet washcloth.

“Mommy?”

“Yes?” You hummed, continuing to scrub the dirt off her knees.

“When is the baby coming?”

“Not for a couple more months.”

“Daddy thinks it’ll be a boy,” She told you matter of factly.

“Daddy thinks lots of things.”

“He told me he’s sure about this one.”

“When did daddy say that?” You asked, dipping the washcloth under the water, beginning to wipe the dirt off her cute face.

“Today. He told me while we were looking for flowers for you.”

“Okay, well, what else did he say?”

“He said he wants to name the baby Henry Hosea.”

You blinked at the name. Henry Hosea did sound nice. After all, Hosea was technically your adoptive father, as well as Arthur’s. Neither of you had really ever brought him up, avoiding that painful topic entirely. And Anne knew nothing of your past occupations, it was a story for another time, when she was older.

“I like the name Hosea,” Anne responded after being met by your silence.

“It’s a nice name,” Your voice nearly breaking. You subdued the tears in your eyes, after all that conversation was for another time.

When you finished cleaning Anne up, you brought her to dinner and sat her down next to Jack. You brought the food out to the table, making sure to put the apple pie right in front of Arthur.

•••

In many ways, time had been kind to you. It had been patient and nurturing, time allowed you a second chance at life.

It had given you the life you had wanted, one full of peace, love and family. Your life was quiet at Beecher’s Hope, filled with no revenge story. Time had dragged out your lesson for many years, but now you were reaping the fruits of your labor.

So now, as you cradle your newborn son, watching Anne and Arthur play in the field, her giggles dancing over the grass. You thank time for being there for you. For giving you what you wanted, for letting you learn to grow. For giving you a family. For returning Arthur to you.

In many ways you were thankful, thankful for the lessons you had learned, thankful for the house you lived in, thankful for the food on your table. Thankful for Mahala, thankful for Lee, thankful for Anne, thankful for Arthur and thankful for your son, Henry Hosea.

A cool breeze swept over the field, causing the grass and flowers to dance in the wind. Anne began to pretend she was a bird and Arthur raced around trying to catch her, both laughing in unison.

You looked down at your newborn son, his eyes closed over his resting face.

“One day I’ll tell you where your name comes from. I’ll tell you all about the life your daddy and I lived. And I’ll tell you about the life I had after that, and I’ll tell you about why I’ll never go back to either. One day I’ll tell you all about it,” You said quietly to your son, a promise to him and time, and no one else.

And in the end there was a man and a woman, and a daughter and a son, living to the world, thankful for every moment they get to spend with each other.

And Mother Nature rejoiced, for the man on the mountain and the woman in the city had found each other.

••• The End •••

#arthur morgan x reader #the ballads of rebirth #rdr2 #red dead redemption 2

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serendipitybutterfly · 5 years

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BTS Tarot Valentines Day Special:

BTS' Future Marriages...

I know... Unusual for me since I tend to focus more on advice than predictions for the most part... But, as it's this lovey dovey season, I decided to do a marriage themed reading as a special treat as I've gotten asks surrounding this kind of question before... This is going to be a mammoth post... Omg..

This is my Valentines Day present for you guys who follow and like my readings! Thank you!!!! I 💜 you!

So, without further ado... Let's get it!

*Disclaimer- the way i see it, although this is a prediction reading, I'm only working with the energies of the present moment. If one of the boys wakes up tomorrow and firmly decides he never wants to get married, then his path will change and future readings would reflect that. For the most part, the future is in flux and can be changed... If something is a huge, fateful, set in stone kind of event then the cards will let me know. Also, in this particular reading, rather than focusing on the physical appearance of their future partners, I'm intending to focus more on personality and only mention physical appearance if something strongly comes to mind or their looks come forward as a major message of the reading. Ok done! Let's really get it! 💜

Oh wait... before anything else, I was going to call this future Marriages or life partners (because, obviously, not everyone gets married) but I just decided to ask first off if they'd all get married for the sake of clarity and got a resounding yes for them all so... Yeah... As of now, all of the boys are likely to actually get married in the future. Although... Some are closer to that future than others. Also, I was going to put all of the readings into one big post but then I realised how ridiculously long that would be and decided to split the hyung line and maknae line up into two separate posts. I'm starting with the maknae line and hopefully the hyung line post will follow soon...

Maknae line:

Starting with Park Jimin...

Character profile - The archetype cards that popped out gave me an interesting message... I'm getting the image of someone that had quite a hard life, possibly even a somehow traumatic past (cards like bully and victim in particular stood out to me as being indicative of a troubled past), but managed to retain a sweetness and childlike innocence despite it... I'm also definitely getting the image of an introvert. Someone quite soft spoken, gentle and who comes across as a bit shy. She might feel more comfortable with animals and young children than with most people. Physically I feel like she will be younger than him, and somewhat innocent and fragile looking but at the same time there's something kind of edgy and / or sexy in her style... She might wear a lot of dark colours. Yeah... I know I said I wouldn't focus on looks... But I'm definitely also getting East Asian features coming through visually... I'm also seeing long, straight, black hair and fair skin. This is the kind of person who tends to inspire protective feelings in others... But at the same time has a lot of inner strength that they can use to heal and bolster other people's confidence in themselves.

Relationship- With the Dawn card, I feel like she will give Jimin a whole new fresh perspective on life... I'm hearing 'clean slate' and 'washing away'... I'm just feeling a lovely, pure, soothing, watery kind of energy to this connection overall. I mean, the romance angels oracle deck threw out 'True Love' to describe this connection so... I mean, if Jimin still has those romantic dreams of meeting his one true love like he used to... He can definitely have that wish granted! It's just... Going to take some time... With the Chariot in reverse here, I feel like he will have to wait quite some time before they meet...hmm... How old will he be in another 7 years? About 32? Could be around then or after... But, at this point, it's unlikely to be before...

The tarot here couldn't paint a rosier picture tbh... I really hope Jimin does meet this person in the future because it looks like this marriage could genuinely be the making of true and lasting happiness for him. Just look at these beautiful cards! 10 of cups... Happy family with a loving home environment and playing children! The star because this really is a dream come true, a wish answered. Then you have a reversed queen of wands (👀 omg why does Queen of wands energy always come up with anything to do with romance with Jimin??). However... Interestingly enough, here I'm seeing her as a soft spoken young woman who comes across as quite shy and introverted but who possesses a great deal of inner strength and power... (which is why context matters in tarot guys... Cards mean something different to me basically every time!). This is next to the knight of swords who I see as our lovely libra boy Jimin himself... I'm literally see this as a Knight in shining armor rushing in to the rescue. That's how he'll feel in this relationship. Not at all in a burdensome way... But like that feeling gives him this great deal of strength and confidence in himself. She makes him feel strong and capable and in control... Like a hero. Why is this making me emo? ...

Anyway, then the high priestess is here to sum this connection up and I feel strongly that this is an extremely deep, intuitive connection... The meeting of souls... They can look at each other and just... Know what the other is feeling... Could even be a soul mate / past life connection I think... Wow.

All in all... This is great news for Jimin's future in terms of marriage at this point. Although I do think it'll be a while before they meet and longer before actually getting married... It looks pretty rosy from then on! I'm not saying there will be no bumps in the road at all (I can sense that there are certainly some deep personal issues on both sides that actually need to be dealt with through this union... Which is some soul journey stuff... ) however overall this seems like it will be an amazing match! I'm so glad! 💜 💜 💜

Kim Taehyung:

Character profile:... Uh... Haha... You just had to be different huh Tae... Lol... Ok... So here's the thing... Where marriage is concerned, Tae has that interesting fate where he actually has a choice (I mean, everyone has a choice... But most people don't actually recognise it as a choice... It just kinda happens because it's their fate. Tae has the opportunity to make a conscious choice here regarding his fate because it's like either way he can learn important lessons and grow... Both are fated partners for him. Like a real diverging path kind of thing. He will get to a point where he can choose one path or another with basically full awareness of this as a choice... This is really interesting actually. I mean, either way, he will get married and he can be happy either way too... Although in different ways for different reasons... It's very interesting...

As far as personality goes... I see two distinct personalities coming through... On one side you have someone quite mature, serious, artistic, intellectual, quiet and spiritual and on the other side I see someone very young, pretty, flirty, fun loving, popular and witty... Also very wealthy and a little bit haughty... But kinda 'cute' and funny with it?? Idk why I'm getting that... Like a kind of sly sense of humour...

Unfortunately... This is weirdly up in the air because of this aspect of choice. I can see that both will appeal greatly to different sides of him... If only they could be one person... But alas...

Relationship: Again... The tarot shows how up in the air this is because there is not yet a set path. Tae hasn't even met them yet. He's not thinking seriously of marriage at all yet. However, with the Wheel of Fortune reversed here we can see that though this is not yet set in motion, it is fated either way. Death in reverse and the Hanged Man are also giving me that up in the air, 'paused', kind of feeling... Like this fate is just waiting, biding its time to be set in motion... Right now he's on a solo path, pursuing his career and furthering his goals... It's when he's ready to let some of that go that this will be set in motion... It feels like a few years into the future to me... Not too far but not too close either... I'm not getting a definite time frame. It could be within two to three years or around him going into his early 30s...

You'll notice on one side of the 'up in the air fate' cards we've got the 4 of wands and on the other side we've got the 10 of pentacles representing the two different connections. Both are really auspicious cards for marriage. Both connections are also signified by the two of cups... Both are deep love connections... Again because this is up the air, I'm not getting specifics about the outcomes of either choice, but it does seem atleast like he has the potential to be happy in either marriage. However it looks like in one he can have the big family and legacy (in terms of children and grandchildren and leaving a home and inheritance to them) he desires, while the other relationship seems more quiet and more just about them as a couple being happy together.

I feel like the card Solitude: Island speaks of that connection (them being alone and peaceful together... Perhaps travelling to faraway countries together... And that calmer more serious vibe in that connection) while the card Playfulness is speaking of the other connection (way more youthful, energetic, playful, and flirty energy... And also literal children- and puppies!- incoming!).

So yeah *shrug*... Decisions decisions Tae... He can only make the right choice when the time comes at the end of the day (and he has a lot of spiritual guidance on his side if he chooses to tune in). It's quite likely that by then his priorities and desires for what he really wants out of life will become clearer to him and that will make the decision easier... At this point, it seems like neither of them are a particularly bad choice... Though neither is necessarily perfect either... That's what makes this such a big, fateful decision I suppose... Good luck Tae! 💜 🙏

Now for Jungkook:

Character profile: Wow... Whatta boss... Lol. I'm kinda blown away by this energy to be honest. This is like... The best way I can describe it after looking at all the cards is... This is the kind of woman that both men and women are really attracted to and tend to like (regardless of sexuality). Like... Total 'girl crush', role model, material but also super attractive and sexy... Especially to men who like strong, capable women who have that 'boss' energy... Which is apparently future Jungkook I guess...

Actually these cards really make sense just based on what kind of people Jungkook seems to like to associate with anyway... I feel a sense that she will be older than him by at least a few years (if not, extremely mature and successful for her age). This is someone wise beyond their years who actively seeks knowledge and also goes further to implement what they've learnt to help others who are vulnerable. Something else that's coming through strongly is that this person is extremely creative and artistic... They have to be involved in the arts in some way, even if it isn't their main job. Actually, what I think is that she may work in one creative field (like say, a writer cause Scribe is there) but also does alot of other artistic and creative things as hobbies, like painting, drawing, dancing, singing... This is someone who delights in expressing her creativity so it doesn't have to make her money... She just loves it. Actually there's a kind of free spirited, bohemian, hippyish vibe here which is an interesting contrast to the boss energy... (I honestly want to be her best friend??).

Again, I know I said i wasn't focusing on looks but here looks are coming through really strongly... Like her attractiveness is really a major thing people notice about her so it has to be mentioned. I'm seeing long, wavy or curly black or dark brown hair (although she might also sometimes colour it... Especially red or reddish brown). She has a really great body... Like really fit and toned but also curvy (look at that goddess card! like I said... She's sexy). Also, probably a bit above average height. I'm also seeing that this is someone who's likely to have tanned or darker skin or who tans really easily in the sun... Like in the winter she might get quite pale but then in the summer sun gets a lot darker. She's definitely someone really natural, active and outdoorsy who's likely to get out in the sun as much as possible... I think she probably doesn't wear a lot of makeup... I'm just seeing a really natural beauty... Wow.

Relationship- With the Dreamtime: Creation card I'm getting two things coming through strongly. One is that I really think these two (certainly Jungkook) will actively be manifesting each other before they meet and will (or have already) dreamt about each other. Two is that, once again, I'm getting really highly charged creative energy. These are two extremely talented artists getting together and their relationship and home will reflect that. They encourage and push each other to improve. Really unique and quirky relationship actually... In fact, you'll notice that these cards aren't exactly overtly romantic... And yet... I'm still feeling the love?? Theirs isn't exactly a mushy kind of love but it's still very strong and extremely confident and secure. It's based firmly in actions that show love in a more practical way...

With the Sun shining on this marriage it's clear that they'll be really happy with one another (I see happy children here too... Another aspect of their mutual creativity... 😏 ) but there's also a lot of freedom and space. I see a lot of travelling and a lot of respect and understanding between them. That they are forgiving and don't hold grudges is coming through. This isnt a 'tit for tat' kind of relationship where they hold things over one another or only are nice to each other if the other person is nice first... It feels like they work through arguments maturely, quickly forgive everything and move on to being loving again.

With the page and 8 of Pentacles I see that they learn and grow together as people and work hard to make their relationship and bond extremely strong and they're successful in that. With the engagement card, I'm seeing two things, both strong commitment and loyalty to each other and also that they'll probably get married surprisingly quickly after they start dating. This is another case where I think it'll be a long wait for Jungkook... With the king of swords here... I feel like he'll be a definite MAN when he gets married... Like fully grown, probably rocking both longer hair and a beard... Lol... Older and wiser... Like around his mid 30's or even a little later... However, because he'll have been manifesting and dreaming of her for years (probably even already started guys) he'll just know from the time they meet that she's the one... So why hang about?

Conclusion... I kinda want to be bestfriends with Jungkook's future wife... She's really cool... 😭

OK... This has been the maknae line future marriages reading... I will try to drop the hyung line's readings before, on or just after valentines day so stay tuned! Hope you guys enjoyed!!! 💜 💜 💜

#So... This was interesting...#Here's to me doing the hyung line readings before valentines!#This is my Valentines pressie to my followers so i hope you like it... I purple you!#Bts tarot reading #Maknae line future marriages reading #Bts marriage reading #bts tarot reading #tarot reading #Tarot #Bts #maknae line #park jimin #kim taehyung #jeon jungkook

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