#sponge on the verge of a breakdown

[soobpricity]

sweet dreams - kang taehyun

hubby!tyun, use of the word : princess. yn’s family is very 🤨

spend a happy christmas with taehyun. even though yn has been on the verge of a breakdown due to work and family, taehyun is always there to listen and to wish you sweet dreams and a goodnight.

taehyun’s eyes lingered on your body, noticing the way that your line of interest was directed to the couch. he also couldn’t help but noticed that your greeting to him… it wasn’t as lovely as usual. taehyun ran his mind through the past few days, the two of you definitely haven’t gotten into any fights.

he continued to scrub the dirty dishes with the soapy sponge, although he still kept an eye on you, constantly turning around to check up if you were still… alive. he noticed the way that your eyes were closed, but he could tell that you weren’t exactly asleep.

“tyun..” you called out, voice barely even reaching his ears. he turned all the knobs off, water coming to a stop, taking off his gloves. and setting them on the counter.

“yes, love.” he came and sat down at the end of the couch right next to your head, he was careful to not sit on any part of your body including your hair.

“you should take a break, you’ve been at it since the morning.” you spoke up, voice grumbling and your right cheek pressed against the couch. you laid on your right side, pillow underneath your head.

“mm.. i have but i’ve taken a ton of breaks, i just feel pretty energized.. do you need me to do anything for you, princess..?” he questioned, moving a bit closer to you, only to see a wet drop run down your cheek.

“i’m fine, tyun.. i just need to get my laptop out, but it’s right here in my bag.” you replied, touching the bag that was leaned onto the leg of the sofa. taehyun felt quite sad to see you in such a difficult state.

“can you follow me for a second, yn.” he patiently waited for your answer, catching sight as you nodded your head. opening your eyes, you sat up and taehyun could see the sheer sorrow in your face. he offered you his hand, which you were happy to take. he led you into your shared room, he sat you down onto the soft bed that was in the center of the room but against the wall. he looked through your dresser, finding you the christmas pajama that was meant to match with his, but he had an apron on at the moment. “can you change real quickly, and then i’ll be back.. mkay ?”

“mhmm..” you hummed in response, looking at the pajama set that was now in your lap. you had no idea what taehyun was up to, nor was he going to let you find out what he was going to do. you put on the set, opening the door that taehyun had shut to give you some privacy. “tyun…”

taehyun was convinced that he had some kind of superhuman hearing, after all this entire time the volume in your voice hadn’t been very loud. he turned around, seeing you peeking out of your shared bedroom. he simply sent you a soft smile, walking over to you, he grabbed two headbands. one had black cat ears on it and the other was a gray bunny one, he put on the black cat one, pushing back his hair. handing you the remaining one, as you followed his steps.

he led you into the bathroom. your hand in his, before he let you go, taking out your oil cleanser and applying it to your face, before he did the same to his own face, he waited for you to wash your face before he washed his. you couldn’t help but feel your spirits slowly lifted as taehyun did the best he could to make you feel happy.

“what kind of face mask do you want to do today ?” he asked, caressing your cheeks as he noticed the way that your lips started to turn upwards.

“whichever one you’d like, as long as i get to put it on you !” you exclaimed excitement and energy slowly returning to your body. he pressed a kiss to your cheek, picking out a face mask. the two of you took turns placing the mask on each other. which only ends up with you sitting on top of the counter and taehyun’s face looking up at you as you took off the mask after making sure that enough time has passed. he wrapped his arms around your waist, picking you up as you instinctively clung onto him, your legs embracing his torso. “be careful, tyun !”

“of course i have to be careful, i wouldn’t want to hurt my princess..” he replied, carrying you into the living room where a bunch of snacks were waiting on the coffee table which filled the space between the couch and the tv. “y’know i only really even work out just for you… just so i can treat you like the princess that you are.”

he teased, bringing his lips up to his your cheek, a subtle red blush settling on your face. you were happy to have a partner that showed nothing but love for you. you wished that you could be as affectionate as taehyun, and you do try your best. but taehyun just goes an extra mile.

“maybe i should start going to the gym and treating you like a prince ! i’ll carry you all over the place, hyun !”

“ah, but i love treating you like a princess. you deserve all the love in the world and luckily for you, i’m just the right person to do that for you.” taehyun couldn’t help but smirk, settling himself down on the couch as you practically melted into his arms since he had been carrying you. he grabbed the tv remote, turning on the tv and playing a random christmas movie. he threw a blanket on top of the two of you as you snuggled closer to him.

“tyun…” you called out, eyes still on the screen watching as snow began to fall, introducing the movie’s main character to viewers. taehyun only hummed as a reply, his arm around your waist, his hand caressing your hand. “can we.. or do you want to go visit your family for christmas ?”

“i thought we were going to go see your family ?” taehyun questioned, pausing the movie so that he could put all of his attention on you.

“well… yeah.. we were, but-..”

he heard your small stuttering voice, worried for you. he knew that your family situation wasn’t the best, in fact he fell victim to one of their little accidents. taehyun.. wasn’t supposed to marry you, you were supposed to marry your mother’s friend’s son. so when taehyun proposed to you, he didn’t really have permission to marry, he did it anyways.. and when the two of you showed up to your family’s house for christmas, let’s just say you got a lot of unnecessary comments and nasty stares. however, you made the right choice by getting engaged to taehyun. he spent all night and the day after, making sure that you were okay and that you had no regrets about him. which you didn’t, you also spent that day making sure to show him all of your love, sure you were the prime target of all the rude behavior, but it was bound to hurt taehyun too.

“do you want to spend it here, just with me or with my family ?”

“why don’t we spend the 24th with your family and then on the 25th it can just be us.” you replied, smiling up to your husband, eyes full of love and adoration.

“sounds like a great plan, my princess.”

“by the way… thank you…” you turn your head to look at taehyun.

“for what ?”

“for cheering me up !! you saw that i didn’t have a really good day today and instead of avoiding me.. you took really great care of me, tyun.. you really are the right person to give me all the love in the world, and i’ll try my best to be the person to give you all the love in the universe.”

“of course, i can’t just sit back seeing you so down, you can always talk to me, you can even take out all of your frustrations on me..”

“i wouldn’t ever do that.. you shouldn’t have to live through the consequences of other people. it’s their fault that i felt down so they’ll face the consequences for doing so !” he chuckled, scratching the top of your head, running his hands through your hair.

“should we go to bed ?”

“oooh ! yes, please.”

the two of you moved to your shared bedroom, turning off the tv, realizing that the two of you only even got through 2 minutes of the movie which was barely even the beginning of the movie. you laid down on the right side of the bed, pulling the duvet over your body, as taehyun did the same thing but on the left side of the bed. you immediately moved over to him.

“i really do love you and cherish you, taehyun.”

“i love and cherish you, too.. sweet dreams, my yn.”

©️soobpricity

taglist : @run2seob @soobadooba @mrsyawnzzn @matcha-binz @ye0nvibezzn @yutacchin @kittyhyuka (send asks !!)

[ronancexists]

Chaggie/Starmoth Week of Firsts

These will also be posted on my AO3 account which is the same as my Tumblr username, ronancexists :) Day 2: First Date

It had been a rough couple of months since Charlie had first found Vaggie. The poor woman was not only severely injured at the time, but she was also new to Hell. Like, brand new. And that meant she knew absolutely nothing about how anything worked down here.

Luckily for Charlie, Vaggie seemed to adapt to her new life in Hell rather quickly. She absorbed all the information Charlie relayed to her about Hell like a sponge does water, and was overly protective of Charlie whenever they ventured out together.

Not that Charlie particularly minded. In fact, she found it rather sweet that Vaggie was so adamant about keeping her safe. Even though she and Vaggie both knew nobody down here would hurt her unless they wanted to incur her father’s wrath, Vaggie insisted, stating she didn’t want them to forget that little detail.

Charlie wasn’t sure if Vaggie was acting this way because she’d been the one who nursed Vaggie back to health when she was teetering on the brink of death, or if it was because Vaggie might be harboring some deeper feelings for Charlie.

At least, that’s what Charlie was hoping was the case.

She’s been aware of her own feelings towards Vaggie for what's felt like forever now. After all, she did totally like, find her completely attractive when she’d first stumbled upon Vaggie and blushed when Vaggie smiled at her and did her little hair tuck behind her ear thing. And when Vaggie started hanging out with her and smiling at her and comforting her and helping her and supporting her dreams and believing in her, well, it’s no wonder Charlie became so smitten so quickly.

The trouble was, Charlie had no clue if Vaggie felt the same. Vaggie didn’t outwardly express her emotions as much as Charlie did, at least, not the ones that would make her vulnerable, and—in her words, not Charlie’s, never Charlie’s—make her appear weak to others.

However, she was very good at expressing her annoyance and anger and the even concern when she felt Charlie was working herself too hard or when Charlie was on the verge of a breakdown from stress and frustration.

But anything other than that, Vaggie’s lips were sealed.

Charlie had no clue how Vaggie felt about her, but she wished and hoped more than anything that Vaggie felt even remotely similar to Charlie.

~~~

Vaggie had developed feelings for Charlie. Not friend feelings, but I-want-to-hold-your-hand-and-kiss-you-whenever-I-want-and-call-you-my-partner feelings.

She groaned aloud to herself, her arms crossed over her stomach, pacing back and forth in front of the bed of the guest bedroom that had become her room, anxiously gnawing on her bottom lip, one of her hands occasionally leaving her stomach to tug at her hair.

Vaggie’s been feeling like this around Charlie for a while now.

Whenever Charlie looked at her, she blushed. Whenever Charlie touched her, whether it was linking their hands together or giving her a hug, it sent warmth and sparks shooting through her body. Whenever Charlie was sad, she wanted nothing more than to hold the blonde in her arms and shower her with affirmations, while simultaneously thinking of ways to tear apart the hijo de puta that had caused Charlie to feel sad in the first place. Whenever Charlie sang, it filled Vaggie with a feeling of happiness and peace. Whenever Charlie started talking, she found herself thinking of how soft Charlie’s lips would feel against her own and if her kisses would be as sweet as her.

She groaned again, now raking both hands through her hair and clutching at large chunks intermittently. “Fuuuuuuck, fuck fuck fuck,” Vaggie said, sighing as she fell back against her bed with a ‘thump’, feet dangling and kicking in the air before hitting the side of mattress, repeating the motions mindlessly as her thoughts continued to stray to Charlie.

Charlie must have been pretty oblivious to not have noticed even one of the longing stares Vaggie directed her way. But if Charlie wasn’t looking for Vaggie to look at her that way, then it’d make sense that she hadn’t noticed.

That was another thing. Vaggie had been studying Charlie for a while now, and not once had she caught the Princess looking at Vaggie the way she looked at Charlie. Usually, Charlie was an open book to Vaggie, but if Vaggie didn’t see it, it more than likely meant Charlie didn’t like Vaggie in that way.

With a sigh, Vaggie adjusted so she was curled up on her side, arms curled around herself as if trying to protect her from the inevitable truth.

Charlie didn’t like her, not in the way Vaggie wanted her to.

And she never would.

~~~

Charlie couldn’t believe she had just done that. One moment, she was seated at the dinner table, aimlessly chatting with Vaggie, and the next, she was covering her mouth in shock, eyes wide in horror as Vaggie merely stared at her. “Ohhhh my gosh, I’m so so so sorry! I didn’t mean to say that! No, wait, I meant to say it! I just, I had this whole thing planned out. I was gonna get flowers and make a cake and put up a banner and everything! It was going to have glitter and—”

As Charlie continued to ramble, Vaggie continued to stare at her, a blank expression on her face, processing what Charlie had said.

They’d sat down to eat, Charlie instantly diving into conversation about the newest updates to her Happy Hotel project. Vaggie was watching her with a fond smile, her singular eye shining with adoration as Charlie frantically waved her hands about to emphasize her point.

When Charlie finally met Vaggie’s gaze, she tucked her hair behind her ear, something Vaggie knew she only did when she was flustered. Vaggie couldn’t bring herself to look away from Charlie, even as her own cheeks began to heat the longer her eye remained locked with both of Charlie’s.

Charlie broke the tension by blurting out the first thing that came to mind. “Would you want to go on a date with me?”

And that’s how they got to this moment, with Charlie now on the verge of tears as Vaggie still hadn’t responded to anything Charlie had said, including her admittance of her feelings towards the other woman.

“I-If you don-don’t feel the same, I understand. I just hope we can s-stay friends,” Charlie sniffled, wiping the wetness staining her cheeks with the arm of her suit jacket. “I’ll leave you alone. I’m sorry.”

Vaggie finally managed to snap out her trance as Charlie stood up from her seat, the chair screeching against the floor at the force that Charlie pushed it back with. She stood up as well and quickly walked over to Charlie’s side of the table, stopping Charlie’s retreat when her fingers wrapped around Charlie’s slender wrist. “Wait,” she pleaded.

Charlie stopped in her tracks, taking in a deep breath before hesitantly looking over at Vaggie.

“Charlie, I—” Vaggie started, exhaling slowly as if that would get rid of the jitters that had taken over. “I like you. As more than a friend. And I’d love to go on a date with you, if you still want that.”

Charlie’s expression morphed comically from sadness and fear and hesitation to disbelief to sheer, unadulterated joy, all within seconds. She squealed, wrapping her arms around Vaggie’s waist and picking her up, spinning them around in circles as she giggled excitedly.

Vaggie wrapped her arms around Charlie’s shoulders instinctively, her panicked yelp quickly giving way to laughter.

“Really?! You mean it?! You want to go on a date with me?!” Charlie asked once she had set Vaggie down, only slightly breathless, hands still resting on either side of Vaggie’s waist, beaming down at Vaggie as if she held the key to happiness in her hands.

“I mean it,” Vaggie confirmed, smiling brightly as Charlie dove forward for a hug, one she eagerly reciprocated. She buried her face in Charlie’s shoulder, inhaling deeply, that familiar, wonderful apple scent making her feel a litany of feelings all at once.

Both of them were overly relieved that the other felt the same, and they couldn’t wait for their first date to commence.

~~~

“Are you sure I look ok?” A frazzled Charlie asked a very exasperated Razzle and Dazzle, who had laid down on her bed after Charlie had reached outfit number six.

“Baa,” they responded in unison, Razzle closing his eyes and resting his head on his crossed hooves while Dazzle stared at her, unimpressed.

“You’re right. It’s Vaggie, she’s not going to care about what I’m wearing,” she said in an attempt to reassure herself as she fussed with the cuffs on her jacket, looking herself over in the mirror for the umpteenth time, quadruple-checking that her mascara hadn’t smeared.

Charlie was wearing a black multi-layer ruffled skirt that fell to her upper thighs, a black shirt that was tucked neatly into her skirt with a white collar, a white tie with black stripes, and a black suit jacket that had padded shoulders. It also sported gold-colored buttons and a white trim along the hem, all the way around from the lapels to the angular-shaped bottom. She’d redone her black nail polish, and ultimately decided to leave her hair in its normal braid, choosing to go with a pair of small, strappy black heels.

Straightening up her tie, Charlie couldn’t contain the excitement that was bubbling up, nor the accompanying ear-to-ear smile. “I still can’t believe she said yes! It’s a dream come true! I’m the luckiest girl in the world!”

Razzle and Dazzle shared bemused glances as Charlie began twirling around the room, humming to herself in delight as she swiped her wallet off the nightstand, tucking it into her inner coat pocket.

“I bet Vaggie’s going to look amazing! Not to say that she doesn’t always look amazing, because she does! But seeing her all dressed up is going to be a whole ‘nother level of amazing!”

“Baa!” Dazzle bleated, Razzle pointing to the clock.

“Oh, shoot! You’re right! I gotta go get Vaggie! You boys got the limo?! Vaggie deserves the absolute best for our date!”

“Baa! Baa!” Razzle responded, flying up from the bed and nudging Charlie towards the door while his brother grabbed the bouquet of roses Charlie had bought for Vaggie and handed them off to her.

“Right, I’ve got it! Thanks boys, I’ll see you in a bit!” Charlie hollered, practically skipping down the hall, the bouquet clutched tightly in her hands.

She skidded to a halt when she reached Vaggie’s bedroom door, and once she had gathered up enough courage, she knocked.

“I’ll be out in a couple of seconds!”

Charlie didn’t have to wait for even a second. The door swung open, revealing Vaggie, and Charlie’s mouth went dry, eyes becoming as big as saucers. “Vaggie—I—umm—you look—wow—I—you’re—you’re stunning,” Charlie stuttered as she held out the flowers to Vaggie. “I brought these, for you, but now I don’t even know why I bothered because they don’t even begin to compare to you.”

Vaggie blushed, taking the roses from Charlie while shuffling nervously from foot to foot at Charlie’s sweet compliment and her earnest gaze. “Let me just put these down, and then we can go.”

Charlie nodded, watching Vaggie walk away, mind reeling from how a woman as beautifully breathtaking as Vaggie wanted to go out with her. Not because she was Charlotte, the Princess of Hell and heir to the throne, but Charlie, the goofy blonde filled to the brim with enthusiasm and dreams that others were determined to crush under the heels of their boots.

“Ready?” Vaggie asked.

“I am,” Charlie said, holding her arm out for Vaggie to take, heart flipping and flopping in her chest as Vaggie daintily looped her arm through Charlie’s, smiling bashfully at her. “I meant what I said, you know. You look absolutely amazing.”

Vaggie’s hair was pulled back into an elegant bun, her bangs covering the eyepatch with the red X Charlie had painstakingly made for her. On her neck sat a small, diamond necklace that resembled a choker in Charlie’s eyes. She had picked out a dark red, sparkling pantsuit for the evening, the spaghetti straps resting on her shoulders a lighter shade of red. The top half dipped down just low enough to tease, but not overwhelmingly so. There was a cutout in the middle, connected to the bottom half of her suit by light red straps, exposing Vaggie’s skin all around. Most of Vaggie’s upper back was exposed as well due to the way the top half of the suit tapered off as it reached Vaggie’s back. She, like Charlie, was wearing a small pair of heels, only hers were white instead of black.

It was a lot more skin than Charlie was used to seeing exposed on Vaggie, and it was honestly making her dizzy with how breathless she was becoming and how much she wanted to run her hands over it all. She was also filled with pride at Vaggie, for being comfortable enough with Charlie to have the scars on her back out in the open.

“Thank you, Charlie. You don’t look too bad yourself.”

Charlie acted offended at the barb, and Vaggie’s resulting giggle only made her that much more beautiful in Charlie’s eyes.

“So, are you ready to tell me where we’re headed?” Vaggie asked conversationally as they reached the limo, thanking Charlie for holding the door open, rolling her eye fondly as Charlie bowed at the gratitude.

Since Charlie had grown up in Hell and Vaggie had only arrived a couple of months ago, she’d allowed Charlie the liberty of planning out their evening. The only information Charlie had given her was to dress as though she were heading to a black-tie event.

“Not yet. Guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” Charlie replied as she clambered into the limo, shutting the door behind her and signaling to the boys that they could begin driving. She settled back in her seat, adjusting herself so she was facing Vaggie, reaching over to link their hands together, humming to herself as she traded from staring out the window for some time to staring at Vaggie for some (a much longer) time.

Charlie’s touch sent a tingling sensation shooting through her, quickly followed by warmth, which Charlie seemed to simply radiate.

While Charlie was occupied with the window, Vaggie took the chance to admire Charlie’s outfit, seeing as she hadn’t been able to earlier, and how the fuck Charlie managed to pull of a suit with a ruffled skirt was beyond her. Though she didn’t mind the skirt, not at all. The way the garment fell as Charlie sat down made it ride up even higher than it had before, exposing even more of Charlie’s thighs, not to mention the way the suit emphasized each one of Charlie’s curves and highlighted the angles of her body. The sight made Vaggie’s breath hitch in her throat, and it took her a while to gain any semblance of control over her thoughts.

A smirk overcame her face as an idea flashed in her mind. She tugged on Charlie’s hand, causing the Princess to look over at her in confusion. Vaggie tugged on her hand again, and once Charlie moved, scooting close enough to Vaggie that their thighs were touching, Vaggie leaned against Charlie’s side, throwing one of Charlie’s arms around her shoulders while her own wrapped around Charlie’s waist. With a content sigh, Vaggie allowed her head to fall against Charlie’s shoulder, looking up at Charlie and batting her eye innocently even as she fought against her smirk, which wanted to make itself known once more. “Is this ok?” Vaggie asked, intentionally fanning her breath against Charlie’s neck and watching as goosebumps instantly appeared.

“Yeah! Yes, yeah, this is ok! This is great!”

Vaggie allowed her eye to flutter shut, snuggling deeper into Charlie’s side while being wary of smearing her mascara.

Charlie gulped as her hand hesitantly rested on Vaggie’s shoulder, stroking the skin there softly, heart pounding rapidly against her sternum as her thoughts ran rampant. Oh my gosh I can’t believe this is happening! Her skin is so much smoother and so much softer than I imagined and she looks so breathtaking and she fits so well against me! How am I going to survive dinner if I can barely even stand the ride there?! Please please please let us arrive soon so I’m not tempted to do something I’ll sorely regret and something that will definitely ensure Vaggie won’t want to go out with me ever again. Gosh she’s so beautiful I can’t get over how well the color red suits her and her eye is so pretty and she looks so good with her hair tied back. Not that she doesn’t look good with her hair down! Because she does! She looks good with both! Oh geez I’m rambling inside of my mind, how do I always manage to do this to myself?!

“Charlie?”

“Hmm?” Charlie responded mindlessly, too busy scolding herself internally for going off on a tangent.

“Can’t you at least give me a hint as to where we’re going? Please?”

Charlie bit her lip, eyes falling down to Vaggie’s lips as she pouted playfully. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

“Yes, thank you!” Vaggie exclaimed, reaching up to press a light, fleeting kiss to Charlie’s cheek, pulling away as she looked at the woman eagerly, who appeared to be frozen in place, like a deer in headlights. “Charlie, hun, are you ok?”

If it was even possible, Charlie stilled even more. It took Vaggie a moment to realize, and when she did, a blush instantly sprouted to her cheeks.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It sort of just slipped out. This is only our first date and it’s a bit much to be calling you by any nicknames or anything. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’d never want to do that to you. It won’t happen again, I promise. Gah, I’m such an idiot!”

“Don’t say that!”

Vaggie looked at Charlie in surprise, her blush deepening as Charlie lifted their intertwined hands to her mouth and kissed the back of Vaggie’s.

“Don’t you ever call yourself an idiot again, ok? You’re the opposite of an idiot. You’re a genius. You’re smart. Intelligent. Sharp. Brilliant. Clev—”

“Ok!” Vaggie interrupted, placing a hand over Charlie’s mouth through her giggles. “I understand. I promise.”

“Good, and don’t apologize for the nicknames either. I think they’re cute, especially when they’re coming from you.”

Warmth blossomed in Vaggie’s chest, spreading throughout her entire body. “So you think I’m cute, huh?”

Charlie’s hair tuck was all the answer Vaggie needed.

“I think you’re cute too, in case that wasn’t obvious.”

Charlie beamed down at Vaggie, and without thinking, she pressed a kiss to Vaggie’s forehead.

Vaggie’s heart pounded even fiercer at the feel of Charlie’s lips on her skin. She squeezed Charlie’s hand in reassurance before she could freak out too much about the action. “Now, would you care to give me that clue you promised me?”

“Alright, hold on! Ummmm, let’s see,” Charlie mumbled to herself, eyes narrowing as if searching through her mind for the perfect clue. “Hmm, ok. Yup, I’ve got it! It’s to die for!”

Vaggie studied Charlie curiously, her proud smile and sparkling eyes and those adorable red circles on her cheeks. “Charlie.”

“Yes?”

“Are you seriously telling me you got us a reservation at ZoZo’s Palace?!”

Charlie deflated like a balloon, a pout settling on her lips. “Aww man, I didn’t think you were gonna guess it!”

Vaggie snorted. “Charlie, they’ve got advertisements 24/7 about how the food there is ‘to die for’. I may not pay much attention to the TV, but I’ve heard it enough times to recognize it. How did you even get reservations? From what I’ve heard, that place is booked months in advance.”

Charlie scratched the back of her neck, smiling at Vaggie sheepishly. “Well, I sort of am the Princess of Hell. I don’t use the title a lot, but I really wanted to do this for you. I wanted to make tonight special.”

“Charlie,” Vaggie said softly, adoration sweeping across her face as she cupped Charlie’s face in her hand, forcing Charlie to look at her. “You didn’t need to go through all of that trouble for me. Tonight was going to be special no matter what, because I’m with you. That means more to me than anything, even a fancy restaurant.”

Charlie nuzzled into Vaggie’s hand, eyes brimming with happy tears as she stared at Vaggie in awe. “You mean that?”

“I do.”

A smirk formed on Charlie’s face. “So, should I cancel our table?”

“Umm, fuck no.”

“But I thought being with me was more special than anything?”

“It is, but you can’t tell a girl you got her a table at ZoZo’s and not expect her to want to go.”

They looked at one another seriously. It only lasted for a few seconds before they burst into a fit of giggles, the limo rolling to a stop shortly after.

“Baa!” Razzle said, pointing out the window.

“Looks like we’re here,” Charlie said, opening the car door and stepping out before turning around, offering her hand for Vaggie to take.

Vaggie did, allowing Charlie to assist her, and once she was out, she interlocked her fingers with Charlie, squeezing Charlie’s hand in excitement as she stared at the restaurant before them in complete and utter wonder. “Charlie,” she breathed out, and the smile she shot Charlie was so brilliant Charlie felt her knees go weak.

“Come on,” Charlie said, reluctantly removing her hand from Vaggie’s so she could wrap her arm around the backs of her shoulders, hand resting on the bare skin of her upper arm.

Vaggie slung her arm across Charlie’s waist in return, fingers absentmindedly stroking up and down Charlie’s side as they walked, a tingling sensation shooting through Charlie each time.

They chatted aimlessly as they waited in line, and once they reached the front, Charlie spoke up. “Reservation for two under Morningstar.”

The host’s eyes widened in recognition, but otherwise kept his cool. “Of course, Miss Morningstar. Right this way.”

Charlie watched Vaggie as she looked around at everything in awe, smile widening everytime Vaggie gasped softly if something took her aback. Her cheeks were hurting by the time they got to their table, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“You got us a private dining room?”

“I know you still tend to get anxious around large groups of people, so I thought this would make you more comfortable.”

Vaggie was overwhelmed by Charlie’s consideration for her and her feelings. Unable to find the words to express her gratitude, she leaned up and kissed Charlie’s cheek like she had in the limo. Charlie’s giddy smile at her actions only served to make Vaggie smile like an idiot in return.

“Ladies first,” Charlie said, reaching for the chair and pulling it out, gesturing for Vaggie to sit.

“My my my, what a gentleman,” Vaggie teased as Charlie pushed her chair back in before Vaggie had fully sat down.

Charlie smoothed out the bottom of her skirt before she sat down, pulling her chair in so she could be as close to the table (and Vaggie) as possible.

“Charlie, this is incredible. I can’t believe you did all of this for me.”

“It wasn’t that much trouble, really. But even if it had been, it would’ve been well worth it if it meant I got to see you smile the way you are right now.”

“A gentleman and a charmer, who would’ve thought?” Vaggie asked despite the color that was painting her cheeks at Charlie’s words.

“Hey, there’s a lot you still don’t know about me.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because you’re an open book, Charlie.”

“That’s simply not true.”

“Oh, really?”

“Really!”

“Do tell. What do I not know about Miss Charlie Morningstar, the ever so darling Princess of Hell?”

That’s how they spent most of their evening, discussing the things they knew about one another and learning about the things they didn’t know. They only stopped when they’d ordered their drinks and food, diving right back into their conversation as soon as they’d finished placing their orders.

“I can see why people say this place is to die for,” Vaggie said after they’d both finished off their plates, using her napkin to wipe up any excess food that may have been lingering on her face, Charlie doing the same across the table.

“Me too. I’ve been here a couple of times with my parents when I was younger, but I never really liked the food much at the time.”

“Oh? Was little Princess Charlie too much of a snob to even eat at a place as fancy as this?”

Charlie shook her head through her giggles. “No! It was nothing like that!”

Vaggie laughed as well, tilting her head when she noticed Charlie had some sauce smeared on the corner of her mouth. “Char, hun, you’ve still got a little something,” she said, pointing to her own face to indicate where it was on Charlie’s.

“Did I get it?”

“No, hold on, lemme just,” Vaggie said as she reached out, wiping the sauce off with her own napkin, freezing as she realized just how close her face was to Charlie’s. Close enough that she could feel Charlie’s breath fanning across her face, close enough that if she leaned forward just a bit she could narrow the distance between them, see how those black lips felt against her own, if they were as soft as Vaggie imagined, if they would taste like apples, if—

Vaggie cleared her throat, averting her eye from Charlie’s as she hastily sat back in her seat, blushing heavily.

Charlie had never been so tempted to screw proper date etiquette than at that moment. Vaggie had been so close, and her lips had looked so inviting, so plump, so kissable, so delectable. She had been in the midst of wondering how Vaggie would react to Charlie biting down on her lip, if she’d sigh or let out a moan or whimper in pleasure, when Vaggie had abruptly pulled away. “All gone?” she asked, a bit breathless.

Vaggie nodded. “Yup! All gone. You’re all good now.”

“I guess you can’t take me anywhere, huh?”

Vaggie smirked at that. “I guess not.”

She asked Charlie about how the Hotel was coming along, her chin resting in her hand as she admired the woman in front of her. How passionate she was, how determined she was, how enigmatic she was, how beautiful she looked in the candlelight. Vaggie had never felt more smitten with Charlie than right now.

Here she was, all dolled up, sat in the most upscale restaurant in Hell, with none other than the Princess herself.

Not that Vaggie liked Charlie because she was the Princess. She could care less about that. She was with Charlie because she liked hearing her sing whatever tune came to mind, she liked the way Charlie would become all flustered when she complimented her, she liked seeing Charlie bounce up and down in her seat whenever they were watching something together, unable to sit still even in the calmest of moments. She liked how caring Charlie was, how she was willing to do anything and everything for those she held near and dear, how her nose would crinkle when she’d get overly excited, how she was always so optimistic despite being in Hell, how touchy-feely she was with Vaggie.

Vaggie could go on and on about everything she liked about Charlie, but that would take up the rest of eternity. She had it bad for the other woman, and while that scared her, it also thrilled her.

Because Charlie, the literal Angel of Hell, felt the same way about Vaggie as Vaggie felt about her.

“Vaggie?”

Vaggie snapped her attention back to Charlie, who looked uncharacteristically nervous, twisting her skirt in one of her hands as she fidgeted in her seat while the other was tapping on the table. “Yeah, hun? Is everything ok?”

“I was just—well I was wondering—I know this is a big thing—and I—ughhh ok—umm—I dunno—I was thinking—”

Vaggie smiled softly, reaching over and placing her hand atop Charlie’s. “Breathe, Charlie. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. There isn’t anything you can say to me that will make me want to leave you.”

Charlie nodded jerkily, inhaling and exhaling as she gathered her thoughts. “I know this is a big ask, and there is no pressure on you to say yes! I was just, ever since I met you, you’ve stood by me like nobody else. You’ve supported me through everything, and you believe in me. You believe in my Happy Hotel, and you believe in my idea that sinners can be redeemed. So, if it’s not asking too much, I was kinda, sorta, mayyyybe hoping you’d want to be my partner in running the Hotel, like maybe you could be the manager or something. I haven’t figured all of the logistics out yet. But you totally don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to! Or even answer right now! I can definitely wait, I don’t want to make you feel like you owe it to me to say yes or force you into it if you don’t—”

“Charlie,” Vaggie interrupted, squeezing the other woman’s hand as Charlie blinked at her. “I’d be honored.”

“Wait, really?! You want to?! You want to run the hotel with me?!”

Vaggie nodded, returning Charlie’s ear-to-ear-grin. “Really. I care for you, Charlie, and I care about your dream. I want to do whatever I can to help.”

“Oh, thank you thank you thank you!” Charlie gushed, bringing Vaggie’s hand up to her mouth and pressing a flurry of kisses to the back of it in her excitement.

Vaggie’s cheeks heated up from the attention, but she made no move to stop Charlie. After all, she adored her and her antics. “There’s no need to thank me, mi querida.”

Charlie tilted her head at Vaggie. “What does that mean?”

“What, mi querida?”

She nodded.

“Oh, it’s Spanish for ‘my dear’,” Vaggie explained as her blush deepened.

“Could you speak it to me more? It makes me feel, I dunno, special.”

Vaggie smiled. “Lo que quieras, princesa. Pero siempre serás especial para mí, no importa qué.” [Whatever you want, princess. But you will always be special to me, no matter what]

“That’s—umm—I—wow.”

Vaggie laughed at the fact that she had managed to render Charlie speechless, a feat she was sure was not easily accomplished.

Charlie smiled softly, admiring the woman sitting in front of her. “How did I get so lucky?”

Vaggie turned her head away bashfully, though Charlie could still see her mouth turning up in a pleased smile.

Charlie’s own smile brightened as Vaggie’s thumb began tracing random patterns across the back of her hand, sparks skittering up her arm and warming her heart. She nodded to their waiter, thanking him for his service as she paid for their meal.

“Of course, Miss Morningstar. We hope you and your date had a splendid evening. Thank you for dining at ZoZo’s Palace.”

“All set?” Charlie asked once he’d left, to which Vaggie nodded.

As soon as they were side by side, they both reached for the other’s hand, matching grins adorning their faces as their fingers interlaced with one another.

Charlie held the restaurant door open for Vaggie, blushing as Vaggie’s body brushed up against her own as she exited. She quickly joined back up with Vaggie, lightly swinging their hands between them as they walked.

“I’m not ready to head back yet,” Vaggie admitted, looking up at Charlie with a hesitant smile. “Do you think we could go for a walk?”

“Of course! I know just the place,” Charlie replied, relieved to find out Vaggie didn’t want the night to end any more than she did.

As they strolled along the street, Vaggie couldn’t help but notice how much more orderly and peaceful this part of the city was. She supposed that was because this area housed more upscale and upper class citizens. It made sense considering ZoZo’s was located in this area.

That’s not to say there wasn’t still fighting and blood and debauchery and fire, but there wasn’t as much as Vaggie had grown accustomed to seeing, and it made the atmosphere surprisingly peaceful. It also made it cooler than normal, which given that this was Hell, was very much not the norm. She couldn’t suppress the shiver that spread through when a breeze came their way, and Charlie noticed.

“Are you cold?”

“A bit,” Vaggie said, and before she knew it, Charlie had taken her suit jacket off and was handing it to her.

She quietly thanked Charlie as she slipped it on, Charlie’s apple scent so prominent and rich it made her dizzy with warmth and comfort. It was very loose on her and so comically large it reached her thighs, and yet, she had never felt safer.

“It’s so big on you,” Charlie giggled.

“It’s not my fault you’re so tall!” Vaggie argued.

“I’m not that tall, you’re just short.”

“Hey!”

“What? You can’t seriously be telling me I’m wrong about this.”

“I’ll have you know I’m a perfectly average height. You’re the one that’s built like a giant.”

“I—wha—that’s not true!”

“Oh, but it is. Look at the people around us, then go ahead and tell me I’m short.”

“...You’re lucky I like you.”

Vaggie looked over at Charlie, tone switching from teasing to something more serious. “Yeah, I really am.”

A comfortable silence lapsed between the two of them, and Vaggie took the opportunity to nestle closer to Charlie. The blonde slung an arm around Vaggie’s shoulders, tucking Vaggie closer into her side, and Vaggie reached up to intertwine her hand with Charlie’s while her other hand settled across Charlie’s waist, fingers resting on the little divot of her hip.

“Here we are,” Charlie said as she pushed open a gate and led the two of them through, the gate clanging shut behind them as Charlie let go of it once they were inside.

“What is this place?” Vaggie asked, looking around the dimly lit, unoccupied park.

“It’s one of my dad’s establishments. He owns a couple of businesses, one of the more commonly known ones is LuLu World. He had this specific park built for my mom, so they could reminisce about their time in Eden. We used to come here as a family a lot when I was a kid. It’s one of my favorite places to visit in all of Hell,” Charlie explained wistfully.

“It’s beautiful,” Vaggie said as she looked around, multiple different colors and types of flora—flowers, trees, plants, etc.—sprouting everywhere and going as far back as the eyes could see. “Thank you for bringing me here. I know it can’t have been easy.”

Charlie shrugged, tipping her head until it was resting against Vaggie’s, a happy sigh escaping as she did so. “Everything seems to be easier when I’m with you.”

They took multiple laps around the well-worn, slightly overgrown path, Charlie pointing out all the plants she could remember, Vaggie listening to her with an adoring smile and a softness in her eye that was reserved for Charlie and Charlie only.

Vaggie didn’t know how long they’d been there, but when she saw Charlie try to stifle a yawn for the third time in a row, she took pity. “As much as I hate to put an end to this, my feet are really starting to kill me.”

“Alright, let’s get you home,” Charlie answered without any hesitation, steering them back towards the gate they had entered the park through.

It was a short walk back to the restaurant, where Razzle and Dazzle had been waiting in the limo. Charlie allowed Vaggie to slip in ahead of her, instructing the boys to take them home when the door closed behind her.

Vaggie immediately melted into Charlie’s side, eye fluttering shut as she rested her head against Charlie’s shoulders, their intertwined hands resting on Vaggie’s lap. “I’ve had an amazing time tonight, Charlie.”

“So have I,” Charlie agreed, resting her own head against Vaggie’s while her eyes shut in content. “Thank you for coming out with me. I’d love to do it again sometime. Only if you want to, of course.”

“I’d love nothing more.”

Vaggie’s answer cut Charlie off before she could begin to ramble, something she suspected Vaggie knew based on how quickly she’d answered her question. “Me too.”

The two of them remained side-by-side for the entirety of the ride, and it took everything in Vaggie’s power to stay awake. But she was just so comfortable, and Charlie was so cozy, and she was surrounded by Charlie’s warmth, and her apple scent that Vaggie adored, and the last thing she recalled as she laid there was how tonight was the best night she’d ever had.

Charlie looked down in surprise when she felt Vaggie’s grip on her hand go lax, biting her lip to contain her squeal at the adorableness when she realized the cause was that Vaggie had fallen asleep. She did her best to remain completely still so she didn’t disturb her sleeping beauty, quietly telling Razzle and Dazzle to be as careful as possible so they didn't startle Vaggie awake with driving over any of the usual clutter that littered the streets.

She moved her hand up to gently brush some loose strands of Vaggie’s bangs back into place, leaning down to press a light, lingering kiss to the top of Vaggie’s head afterwards, her own eyes drifting shut as she thought about just how perfect tonight had been, though not to the point where she fell asleep as well.

The limo rolled to a stop in front of the house, Razzle getting out of the vehicle so he could open the door for Charlie and Vaggie while Dazzle stayed situated behind the wheel, ready to properly park the car after dropping the women off.

“Thanks for all your help tonight, guys,” Charlie said as she gathered Vaggie in her arms, stepping out of the vehicle once she had a secure grip on her.

Charlie followed Razzle into the house, thanking him as he held open the door for her. She started the walk to Vaggie’s room, being sure to keep her footsteps as light as possible so the echoing clacks of her heels wouldn’t cause Vaggie to stir. When she reached the door to Vaggie’s bedroom, Razzle opened the door and got to work undoing the painstakingly made bed, nodding at Charlie once he was done and making a beeline for the door, wanting to give Charlie and Vaggie some privacy.

Sensing she wouldn’t be able to get Vaggie into something more comfortable without awakening her, Charlie laid her date down on the bed and, with a reluctant sigh, started stroking Vaggie’s cheek until the woman started to rouse.

“Mmm, Charlie? Wha’s happenin’?”

She chuckled at Vaggie’s half-asleep, raspy tone. “You fell asleep on the ride home. You’re in bed now.”

Vaggie snuggled deeper into Charlie’s jacket, burying her face in her pillow as her eye shut sleepily. “Don’t wanna move. ‘m comfy,” she slurred out.

“You aren’t going to be comfortable sleeping in your clothes. I can help you change into some pajamas so you can get out of this.”

Vaggie whined, shaking her head. “‘m comfy,” she repeated.

Charlie’s grin was nothing but fond as she tugged Vaggie into a sitting position, giggling as Vaggie merely slumped into her side and fell asleep almost instantly. “Come on, it won’t take long. I promise.”

Vaggie, half-asleep, reluctantly allowed a now fiercely blushing Charlie to remove her clothes, leaving her in her undergarments.

Charlie quickly grabbed the baggy t-shirt sitting on the edge of Vaggie’s bed and slipped it over the woman, unclipping Vaggie’s bra and tossing it to the floor once the shirt had completely covered her chest. She then helped Vaggie slip her arms into the sleeves, urging her to lay down so she could pull the covers over Vaggie, lips quirked up in amusement as Vaggie grabbed Charlie’s jacket from where it was strewn across the pillows and tucked it close to her chest, nose pressed so deeply into the fabric Charlie would’ve been worried about her suffocating if her breathing hadn’t remained the same.

“Goodnight, Vaggie. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Charlie whispered, leaning down to kiss Vaggie’s forehead, hand cupping Vaggie’s cheek as she did so.

“‘night hun,” Vaggie murmured, smiling sleepily up at Charlie through a half-lidded gaze.

Charlie’s heart seized in her chest at the sight, and it took everything in her not to just clamber into bed with Vaggie and fall asleep with the woman wrapped up in her arms. “Sweet dreams,” she settled on saying to a now fully asleep Vaggie, switching off the lights.

Only when the door shut behind her did Charlie allow her emotions to bubble up. She danced and twirled down the hall to her own room, squealing in happiness when she entered.

Razzle and Dazzle looked at one another bemusedly as Charlie babbled to them about her evening while she got herself ready for bed, talking so much about Vaggie that they were learning more about what Charlie thought about her than about their actual outing together, which they took as a sign that the date had gone extremely well. They couldn’t contain their bleats of excitement when Charlie revealed that Vaggie had agreed to be her partner for the hotel.

“I’m just, I’m so happy I feel like I could pop!” Charlie exclaimed as she fell back onto her bed, her smile having been plastered on her face from the second she left Vaggie’s room. It only widened when Razzle and Dazzle flew over to lay down on either side of her, heads resting on her stomach as they looked at her happily. “I can’t believe she said yes to another date! With me!”

“Baa! Baa!” said Razzle.

“Baa!” Dazzle added in agreement with his brother.

“I can’t wait,” Charlie sighed.

That’s how she fell asleep; bracketed by her two most trusted companions in the world, a smile on her face, with sweet dreams of Vaggie, her best friend and hopefully future girlfriend.

Thank you for reading! P.S.— Their date outfits were inspired by an amazing artist here on Tumblr. I highly encourage you all to check it out if you haven't! Also the AO3 link is here as well!

[ajaxcentral]

POST INVERSION HEADCANONS (listener's version)

notes: was looking for an excuse to post these and with the narrative push of avior and starlight dealing with the inversion this is perfect. i might do a part 2 :3

FREELANCER

not only did they become a trauma sponge for the rest of the damn crew but also to other damn students. i'd like to think they're fairly popular on campus so people come to them for help.

they know they can talk to the crew for help but they always hesitate, bottling up their emotions until a breakdown.

both gavin and caelum can sense the amount of knots in freelancer and they try their best to untie those knots.

thinks about xavier about once a week. the smallest things remind them of him

the damn crew know that they're struggling. they always try to get freelancer to open up but it always fail

more under the cut

SWEETHEART

stress stress stress stress!!!!!!!!

the department has our poor stealth working overtime. they leave early in the morning and come home later and later each night

always tries to make time for milo, even if they're on the brink of total exhaustion.

stress smoker. i'd like to think they quit once they met milo but after the inversion they picked the habit back up. they try their best to get ride of the smell of smoke off of them before going home (chewing multiple pieces of gum, switching clothes), actively trying to hide this addiction from milo

milo knows, yk those enhanced senses. him and sh have had a sit down about and are working together to stop the habit

LOVELY

free lovely frfr

just think about, they were tranced by vampire and then kidnapped by said vampire (adam hate club) and was used as food and found out that they're empowered. just when they got a hold of their powers, they we turned. powers stripped away from them

spend nights out in the living room trying to use their lost powers but it always just ends in a breakdown

combined nightmares of adam and the inversion that leave them rushing to the bathroom to throw up

daily talks with vincent

ANGEL

tries to stay up from david when he's working late. they spiral when they're home alone, the silence is unbearable. in the attempt to calm their thoughts they wear david's sweatshirts

like post post inversion like the first week or so, they tone down their personality. david calls they out and angel just pretends that they're doing nothing

i feel like angel is a stress cleaner. they come home from a long day at work and they're cleaning the house like a mad man.

imagine david coming home just to see angel wiping the kitchen counter on the verge of tears trying to remove a certain stain

[dearminty]

fishkeepers pls help, im on the verge of a breakdown over the absolute state of my big tank atm 😭

it went from this:

to this:

(pretty sure its an algae bloom)

all my fish are fine & water parameters are normal so it's mostly a cosmetic issue but it's stressing me out & nothing I'm trying seems to work! I've done huge water changes & smaller ones, squeezing out the filter sponges, dosing with clarity (twice), keeping the light off, scrubbing all the algae off the glass, dosing with biostarter, and I'm now trying purigen in the filter. last time i had a smaller algae bloom, i blacked out the back of the tank that was facing a window & that fixed it, but this is so much worse!

does anyone have advice on how to fix this?? not being able to see everyone freaks me out a lot haha

[patbob]

The energy this image holds.

[heyimboredtalktome]

Nico: I've only slept nine hours over the past four days so I'm right on the verge so a nervous breakdown

Nico: *bites his phone*

Nico: This isn't a bagel

Percy: *spreading peanut butter on a sponge* Mood

Percy: *places the peanut butter, sponge sandwich in front of Annabeth*

Annabeth: Percy what the fuck

[lesbian-deadpool]

Bruce: I’ve only slept nine hours over the past four days so I’m right on the verge so a nervous breakdown.

Bruce: *Bites their phone*

Bruce: This isn’t a bagel.

(Bonus)

Y/N, spreading peanut butter on a sponge: Mood.

Y/N: *Places the peanut butter, sponge sandwich in front of Natasha*

Natasha: Uh, Babe?

[your-fave-is-catholic]

Your Fave Is Catholic: Antonio Banderas (real name: José Antonio Domínguez Bandera)

Known for: Beloved actor from Spain, he has starred in many beloved films both in the English language & in the Spanish language. He originally wanted to play soccer for a career, but an injury to his leg lead him to follow a career in performing arts, where he was greatly recognized for his work in Spanish theater. He then transitioned to acting in films, & since then has had a great career as a film actor. Films under his belt include Matador, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Terra Nova, The Mambo Kings, The House of the Spirits, Philadelphia, Interview with the Vampire, Miami Rhapsody, Desperado, Four Rooms, Assassins, Evita, The Mask of Zorro, The 13th Warrior, Spy Kids & its sequels, Original Sin, Frida, Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Shrek 2 & every Shrek following (he voices Puss In Boots), Bordertown, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Puss In Boots, Ruby Sparks, Machete Kills, The Expendables 3, The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, Black Butterfly, Security, Life Itself, & many more. Besides acting, he also is the co-owner of a winery in Spain, sells Andalusian products on the side, represents the perfume brand Puig, & is also the voice of the Nasonex bee for Nasonex nasal spray. He was also married to actress Melanie Griffith for many years, until they sadly divorced in 2015.

Evidence of Faith: A few sources have stated that for quite some time, Antonio was Agnostic for many years, one example being an old interview from People Magazine where even he says it. However, other sources go on to state that he has since converted back to Catholicism. Not only that, but according to an ABC.es article, it goes on to state that he is an officer (or “mayordomo de trono”) for a Roman Catholic religious brotherhood in Malaga, & that he travels there during Holy Week to take part in their annual religious traditions, & that for him there is no other possibility. There’s also the fact that he can be seen wearing a cross in the black & white picture featured in this photoset, located in the middle to the left, so that accounts for something.

[kimnamjooonz]

Blank Space - Episode 12

Flawless

Songs used in this chapter:

Flawless - Beyonce

Just A Girl - No Doubt (because I’ve been obsessing with this song since watching Captain Marvel)

'You wake up, flawless. Post up, flawless. Ride round in it, flawless. Flossing on that, flawless. This diamond, flawless. My diamond, flawless. This rock, flawless. My rock, flawless. I woke up like this.''

'I can't believe you did this'' Luke was on the verge of a mental breakdown after seeing the state of Morgan's last night dress. ''A thousand dollar Zuhair Murad dress stained with grass and beer. This is a hate crime.'' Morgan didn't say anything. She just sipped her coffee and made a mocking face. Her team was getting her ready to the red carpet of the Toronto Film Festival. She was wrapped in a robe, covering her gown, so it didn't get stained with foundation or lipstick. ''Last night was a total mess for us.'' Lucas moaned. He was the only one who wasn't doing anything. ''Your little show with Sebastian has Taylor climbing the walls back in New York.'' Morgan was tired of being blamed for something that hasn't been her fault at all. Taylor had called her that morning and shouted at her for ten minutes. She accused Morgan of being an irresponsible idiot and that she couldn't be left alone for five minutes without creating havoc. ''It wasn't my fault!'' she yelled. ''It was Sebastian's fault. He grabbed my hand, I had no idea about it! But, of course, it's always the woman's fault! We can never win! I don't know why Taylor thinks I'm some sort of man eater. At least the press doesn't agree with her.'' ''Keep calm!'' hissed Shontelle. ''I'm trying to wave your hair.'' ''The press is too busy planning your wedding'' said Lucas. ''And his fans are over the moon.'' Morgan tried to hide her satisfaction. It wasn't hard. She had only to remember Taylor's earful to ruin her mood. And she hadn't seen Sebastian in all day as he had been busy going through every press conference that was possible. One included a photoshoot with a puppy, that had melt Morgan's heart. But now it was the main act of the show, and Morgan had no idea what could happen. Knowing Sebastian, anything. He had no shame. Thinking about the devil, Morgan got out of her brooding mood when she heard knocks on the door. ''I go'' mumbled Lucas, knowing perfectly well who it was. There was Sebastian, ready to leave, looking devastatingly handsome, in a black velvet suit. ''You cropped me out of last night's pictures!'' was the first thing he said. ''And?'' by her face, she wasn't even sorry. ''It's my Instagram, I post what the hell I want to. And I looked great in that dress.'' That gave Luke an excuse to talk. ''A dress that you ruined! And don't even know what were you two doing last night, but today I dressed you in Alexander McQueen so don't you dare doing the same thing. If you two want to have sex, don't do it on the grass, just wait a couple of minutes and do it on the room so you won't ruin the dress.'' Morgan just looked resigned. In the course of one morning she had got used to the endless doses of teasing. But she preferred the teasing rather than Taylor's accusations of immorality. ''We weren't... doing that'' Sebastian blushed. ''We were eating pizza under a tree on the park.'' Somehow, that was more incredible because it was almost impossible that Sebastian and Morgan could stand each other for so long to finish a couple of pizzas. ''Yeah, whatever'' mumbled Luke. ''Just don't do it again.'' ''Always with the man eater narrative!'' Morgan suddenly exploded, surprising Sebastian. ''Why do you always have to think about sex? I really don't want to get him into my bed!'' she pointed at Sebastian. Lucas wanted to laugh. Maybe she didn't want that in the present but in the past, that was on her bucket list. ''Woah, thank you very much'' Sebastian groaned. ''Just shut up!'' Morgan yelled, throwing a make up sponge at him. ''Calm down! Is she okay?'' a worried Sebastian asked Lucas. ''Yeah, she just drank coffee with almost no food, that's why she's a little cranky. And Taylor called her out so she's a bit mad at that too.'' ''And it was your fault!'' Morgan yelled again. This time she didn't have anything close to throw at him. ''Tell me that at least you got yelled by your agent, please!'' Sebastian almost felt guilty to tell the truth to Morgan. ''Well... no'' he admitted. ''Emily was over the moon. She congratulated me for getting some sense into my head. She was a bit disappointed when I told her that we weren't really dating and I just grabbed your hand in a reckless and stupid move. But she didn't think that it was stupid. And Damien is also really happy, that's what Emily said. He's probably dancing, around the studio.'' Morgan looked defeated. It seemed that everyone minus Taylor thought that Sebastian's move was a marketing masterpiece. He, who was having more and more recognition every day, was being pictured holding hands in a very public way with his co-star, Hollywood's hottest newcomer, who had just covered Vogue and was rumoured to be walking in this year's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Yes, they were a couple to remember. And about his girlfriend, well... no one seemed to care. Maybe they would have, if she were a celebrity too but... she wasn't. That made Morgan felt a little bad (not too much, after all her fangirl feelings were still there) but at the same time, that was not her fault. Florence should have known in what she was getting herself into when she had decided to date Sebastian. The media was ruthless and Hollywood was even worse. And the fans were the icing to the cake. And someone like Sebastian was always going to be linked with her co-stars, if not Morgan, someone else. That was the way it was and if Florence couldn't handle it, that was not Morgan's responsibility at all. She had to continue doing what she needed to do and she couldn't stop to spare the feelings of a woman she hardly knew. ''I still don't understand why Taylor can't see the bright side of the picture'' Morgan seemed to have calmed down a bit. ''Because she's a nice and honest woman who still thinks that morality can win in this industry.'' she was expecting Lucas to answer but instead Sebastian did it. ''Emily was the same at the beginning of my career, until we noticed that if we wanted to get somewhere we had to play dirty sometimes.'' ''That's the way it is'' she said, with no emotion in her face. She stood up taking off her robe on the process only to reveal the beautiful silver dress she was wearing. She looked like a dream. ''Let's go'' she ordered Sebastian. ''Okay...'' he was quite distracted, looking at Morgan. ''You look, really good.'' he didn't want to be that evident in front of Morgan's team. ''Thank you'' she mumbled. ''Hey, you're forgetting the jewellery,'' Luke placed some delicate rings on her fingers that matched with her diamond earrings. ''Please, don't ruin the dress this time.'' he begged. Morgan left the room and Sebastian followed her, almost tripping on the way out. ''Are you okay?'' he asked. ''Yes.'' she nodded. ''And how was the press junket?'' ''I was expecting worse, to be honest. And they handed me a puppy and it was so adorable. He fell asleep on me, it was the cutest thing ever. I wanted to bring him with me.'' Morgan, who had seen the pictures, agreed with him: it was the cutest thing ever. The puppy and Sebastian. She tried to hide the soft expression in her face. ''That was probably adorable.'' she simply said. ''Maybe I get a puppy once I get to New York. I already have half the custody of a cat but I'm not allowed to see him.'' ''Don't give yourself attributions. Thirteen is mine.'' ''I literally found him.'' he had a playful smile and she just rolled her eyes at him. The car was already waiting for them when they left the hotel. Sebastian helped Morgan to get in the car and for once she didn't refuse it. He was moving his arms at the rhythm of the pop song that was being played, even if he didn't know the name of it. That made Morgan smile and a second later she was 'dancing' just like him. They weren't saying a word to each other but dancing was enough, it was enjoyable for them both. Sebastian didn't want to arrive to the place at all. He was wildly thinking about skipping the festival only to keep Morgan in a good mood. ''Damn, it's raining'' she looked through the window. ''It seems that we won't be able to run away tonight''. Morgan just shook her head. She was actually lamenting not being able to repeat last night's adventure. But that didn't mean that there was not going to be another type of adventure. Who knew. ''Here we are.'' he said. The place was full of fans of his, that was quite obvious because the majority of them had signs with his picture in it. No one seemed to care about Kit Harington, Chris Pine or anyone else. Sebastian was the star of the show and Morgan was sure that he was not going to disappoint. Morgan was thinking that if it wasn't for the crazy chance she had had at being able to play the lead role in a famous movie, she would have been one of the fans, waiting for Sebastian under the rain. And now she had the guy basically all to herself and there were days she wanted to send him back to Romania and lock him up there. Crazy how her life had changed. He helped Morgan to get off and immediately both of them were surrounded by security and photographers. In the blink of an eye, a guy taller than Morgan was holding an umbrella over his head. Before no one could notice, Sebastian had freed himself from the horde of security and was about to cross the street to meet his fans. Morgan had been right, he was not going to disappoint. ''Hey, where are you going?'' a big, bulky man asked him. But Sebastian didn't even answer and ran towards his fans, with his own umbrella guy running after him. ''These stars...'' the bulky man mumbled, quite annoyed. Morgan let herself be guided by someone from the organization, always with a kind and polite expression. On the way to the red carpet she kept waving and people with a big smile on her face. It was surprising how many people were cheering for her. She felt incredibly great and grateful. At some point she followed Sebastian's example and freed herself from the security guards to take pictures, sign some autographs and talk a bit with the fans. The bulky security guard looked like he hated his job. Finally Morgan arrived to the red carpet and the flashes only intensified. She was freezing but being the professional she was, she never let it show in her face. She just did all the poses she was asked and the photographers were pretty happy with her. Finally, the pictures were over and it was the turn of talking with the press. She had no idea what they were going to ask her when had no movie screening there and was just Sebastian's plus one. She was still thinking what she was going to say when a reporter from Entertainment Tonight intercepted her. ''Miss Llewellyn, can we have a word?'' he asked her. ''Of course.'' ''Great'' he motioned something to the camera man. ''Three, two, one, recording. Morgan, tell us, as a newcomer, what are you looking forward the most at this year's TIFF?'' ''Nicole Kidman of course.'' she said with a pleasant smile and a soft laugh. ''I really want to meet her and I swear I'm not going to fangirl over her. I'm going to compose myself.'' Morgan was internally thanking the interviewer for not asking what the hell was she doing there. ''And The American Dream premiere's at next year's TIFF, are you excited for this?'' ''I can't wait. But we have to finish filming and we still have a long way too go. Initially, it was going to premiere at Cannes but Damien decided to premiere at Toronto because usually, the movies screening here have more chances at the award's season. That's Damien Chazelle's thinking, not mine.'' she excused herself, laughing. ''I guess he knows best'' ''Yeah'' Morgan agreed with the reporter. ''He has an Oscar and this year he's going for the second. He's premiering First Man next week at the Venice Film Festival, that I'm not invited to, which is a pity because I always wanted to go to Venice.'' She and the reporter laughed. ''Is there a reason you're coming with Sebastian tonight?'' Of course he had to be mentioned in the interview. ''I'm just here rooting for a cast mate'' she simply said. But lately she decided to add a tiny bit of spice to her answer. ''Not really,'' she winked at the camera, making sure everyone noticed that what she was going to say was sarcastic. ''I think he didn't have anyone to come with him so I'm doing him a favour by being here. The deal was that he was going to introduce me to Nicole Kidman.'' Morgan and the reporter laughed again. ''Wow, that's quite the exchange... and which movie do you think is going to shine?'' That question gave Morgan more cues to be cheeky. ''Well, I'm supposing to root for Sebastian but I want to piss him off so, I'm going to go for Beautiful Boy, starring my almost co-star Timothee Chalamet. Get that boy an Oscar, once and for all!'' Morgan wasn't joking because she considered Timothee a wonderful actor but not even in an alternate universe she was going to choose him over Sebastian. ''That was a bold statement. And one more that has nothing to do with this if you will excuse me... everyone is really curious about you walking in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Is there some true to these rumours?'' ''Not really.'' she admitted. ''I think that it was an Internet joke that got out of hand. And I watched how hard the models have to work out to get ready for the show and it's just painful to someone like me. I just work out four hours a week. Maybe I dress as an angel for Halloween, who knows.'' Yes, an angel, thought Morgan, but a weeping angel from Doctor Who. ''Thank you, Morgan for your time.'' Morgan just politely smiled, nodded and went on her way through the red carpet until she was stopped again, this time by someone from the organisation. ''Miss Llewellyn, please, I beg you, can you go back and take some pictures with Mr. Stan? The photographers are basically demanding to have some pictures of you two together.'' Morgan followed him without protesting. She knew that she could do nothing about it as if she dared to deny to take pictures with him it would result in media speculation, Damien Chazelle displeased and sending both of them to do some PR plot again, and both of their agents furious. Taking pictures with him was the easy way out. ''Where were you?'' he asked her when she joined him on the red carpet. ''Giving an interview. Now, let's get on with this.'' This time it was Morgan who grabbed his hand to guide him in front of the photographs who were frantically snapping pictures. They looked absolutely gorgeous together. Morgan's beauty was enhanced by Sebastian's classic movie star aura and handsomeness. They were a couple to die for. ''Kiss her, Sebastian!'' shouted a photographer. Morgan leaned in only to whisper something in his ear. ''If you do that, I swear I'm going to punch you in the face, right here in front of everyone'' He nodded. He wasn't planning to kiss Morgan in front of a horde of people. Yes, he was guilty of wanting to kiss her more than once and that had left him with an almost unbearable feeling of guilt afterwards. Sebastian just did the most politically correct thing in which he could think and looked at Morgan with an enchanted smile and she, thankfully, did exactly the same. The photographers were happy and they could finally leave. He grabbed Morgan by the waist and took her away. ''At least is over. Now, let's get in. We have to mingle with the people and I have the panel of my movie''. ''Am I going to meet Nicole Kidman? Because that's the only reason I'm here.'' ''Wow, thank you for your support, Llewellyn.'' ''C'mon'' she shot him a hard glance. ''You've gone to plenty of events by yourself, Sebastian. I don't know what's that current obsession of yours of going to every event with me.'' ''It was not my idea, it was Damien's'' He may be blaming Damien but he was blushing at the same time. Morgan was aware that they were attracting all the glances by some reason. It wasn't as if this whole event revolved around them, as there were many actors with longer careers than theirs that were also promoting their movies. ''Let's stay here for a little while'' Sebastian pulled Morgan to a corner that was a little hidden from the people. ''I'm quite overwhelmed by so many people'' he took his phone out of his pocket because it was beeping. He glanced at it, reading the notifications. ''Hey!'' he looked at Morgan, with an almost outraged expression. ''Why do you want Beautiful Boy to shine? I thought you were my date.'' Well, her recent interview had spread fast and also... did Sebastian have the notifications of her latest news on his phone? ''Yeah, because I had no other option. And I may be your date but that doesn't mean that I have to be your number one fan. You have hundreds of people who do this job right outside, believe me I'm not one of them.'' She was not going to admit that she had been one of them. ''You're always so sweet, Llewellyn.'' she left the hidden corner and he followed her. ''Are you like this with everyone or only with me?'' ''Only with people that annoy me'' she blatantly said. ''When you're in a normal mood I sort of like you.'' ''And what is a 'normal mood'? this time he was genuinely curious. ''Like last night. Talking about deep stuff instead of this nonesensical blabbering.'' ''I can say the same'' Sebastian started to justify himself. ''I really like you when you lay down your armor and stop throwing sarcastic arrows at me for no reason at....'' Suddenly he stopped talking, made a strange sound and hid behind Morgan, who wasn't a difficult task considering that when she was wearing heels, she was taller than him. ''What on earth is going on? Did you see Voldemort walking to you?'' ''Just please, do me a favor and don't stop walking until we crossed that door.'' She did exactly the opposite and stopped. ''But why are you hiding? Have you offended someone? Did you steal their girlfriends?'' ''No! But Jennifer is there and I don't really want her to see me.'' ''Jennifer Lawrence?'' Morgan frantically looked around. ''Because if you're talking about Jennifer Anniston, let me freak out.'' or it also may be Jennifer Conelly or Jennifer Garner. What Morgan had no idea was what on earth any of them had to do with Sebastian. ''Anyway, whoever you're talking about probably knows that you're here. I mean, we've been on the red carpet two minutes ago and news spread fast.'' He knew that Morgan was right. ''Please, Morgan, she's my ex girlfriend'' ''Oh... that Jennifer.'' of course Morgan knew about her and, yes, she had been jealous. But Jennifer Morrison was, hands down, her favorite of Sebastian's former girlfriends. ''And you're hiding? Can this be more pathetic?'' she teased him. ''What did you do to the poor girl? Did you rob her house? Did you kidnapped her cat?'' she shot him a meaningful glance. ''I mean, you're taking attributions with my cat and the only thing that link us is a role in a movie.'' ''Shut up, Morgan and keep walking.'' ''I refuse'' she stood there with her arms crossed. ''I'm not being your accomplice in your cowardice. Hiding of an ex girlfriend... I didn't know you were still in high school, Sebastian.'' ''I just didn't want to find her here'' he tried to hid behind Morgan again, which was useless because Morgan immediately turned around. ''And that's not my problem. By the way, I'm going to go and say hi to her because I really like her'' Sebastian grabbed her arm, trying to stop her. ''I warn you, Sebastian. Better stop acting like an immature teenager and walk.'' but Sebastian wasn't moving. ''Okay, I'm not saying hi to her. I'll do it in another time. Happy?'' he nodded. ''Now walk.'' Everyone was going pretty well until Sebastian decided to be an idiot and hid himself against Morgan again when they were passing in front of Jennifer. With no shame she grabbed him by the arm and made him walk in front of her, not caring about they looked at that moment. If Sebastian wanted to hide, he could do it, but not using Morgan as a human shield. ''Sebastian?'' someone asked and Morgan knew perfectly well who that was. Morgan just wanted to laugh. Seeing Sebastian Stan trying to hide from an ex girlfriends was priceless. ''Hi, Jennifer'' he wrapped his arm around Morgan shoulders, to make sure she didn't sneak away, that was exactly what she was planning to do as she had caught a glimpse of Nicole Kidman. ''Nice to see you.'' Morgan rolled her eyes, twenty seconds ago he was hiding from her. ''By the way, this is Morgan, my gir...'' ''Co-star!'' Morgan basically yelled, guessing his intentions. ''Which means that after finishing the movie and the promotion I don't have to see him anymore.'' Jennifer didn't know if Morgan was being sarcastic or she really couldn't wait to get rid of Sebastian. ''Nice to meet you, Morgan. I heard a lot about you.'' Jennifer had seen Morgan on Instagram, at the cover of Vogue and literally everywhere where Chanel makeup was being sold. But talking to the real life version of Morgan was quite a challenge because she had an intimidating vibe that made it hard to talk to her with coherent words. ''I saw your Vogue cover, it was really great.'' Morgan expression changed to an innocent smile. It was as if someone had switched sarcastic Morgan with her nicer, sweeter twin. She suddenly looked approachable and even kind. ''Really? Thank you! It was my first cover so I don't know if I did it right.'' ''Believe me, you did. And how is working with Sebastian?'' And... sarcastic Morgan was back. It was noticeable in her facial expression that went from cute and innocent to condescending. Jennifer couldn't believe how fast could someone change her whole personality. ''An... spectacular experience'' every word was soaked in sarcasm. ''Thank you very much.'' Sebastian whispered to her. In his opinion working with Morgan was not that bad. Yes, at the beginning they were at each other's throats all of the time but now things were getting better. ''You're welcome.'' she winked to Sebastian. ''Now, if you will excuse me, I'll leave. A pleasure to meet you, Jennifer.'' and for once, Morgan was being honest. ''Likewise'' Jennifer didn't know what to think of Morgan but she didn't dislike her. She had a peculiar personality, that was all. ''Where are you going?'' Sebastian stopped her, grabbing her arm. She slapped his hand away. Was he trying to control her? ''None of your business''. She walked away with a perfect model-like catwalk. It was impossible not to stare at her. ''Feisty, isn't she?'' Jennifer asked. ''She's like trying to tame a wildcat.'' He didn't take his eyes off Morgan, who was talking to Elizabeth Olsen. Then Chris Pine approached her and that was when Sebastian decided that he needed to interfere. ''Okay, I need to go. See you later''. ''Hey, wait! Be careful with her, okay? Don't suffocate her because you just said that she was like a wildcat so, that means that she can scratch you back and it's not going not going to be nice.'' ''Why are you saying this?'' for once he took his sight away from Morgan and looked at Jennifer. ''Because I'm the only one of your ex-girlfriends that still talks to you. I know that relationships are not your strong point and it doesn't seem that someone as free spirited as Morgan Llewellyn is going to be the solution to that problem.'' He thought for a second but as always, his heart got the best of him. ''She's just my co-star'' his sad smiled revealed that he wasn't happy of having that status. ''Whatever you say'' for Jennifer it was pretty evident that Sebastian wasn't just simply attracted to Morgan but he was slowly and almost unnoticeably falling for her. Sebastian walked towards Morgan that was still talking to Elizabeth and Chris Pine. ''Morgan... we should get going. Oh, hi Liz! And... Pine.'' He offered his hand to Morgan who surprisingly took it, without making a fuss. ''See you later'' she said Elizabeth and Chris and Sebastian just winked at them. What Jennifer had told him was stuck in his head. Maybe he was being too suffocating with her and she was just fighting back. And he was suddenly remembering that he had started all the fights with her, from arriving late in their first meeting, then calling her 'overnight success', something that had deeply offended her and then being a bit dense with her, like the time when she was peacefully talking to Chris Evans and he had crashed the moment. After all, he didn't know who Morgan really was inside that hard shell of her. The only way to do it was with patience and gentleness, showing her that she could trust him but not with words but with actions. ''Morgan...''he ran his thumb on her knuckles. ''I don't know if I told you before but... you look beautiful.'' ''Thank you'' She had a smile he hadn't seen on her before. It wasn't her usual condescending or ultra confident smile but one full of simplicity that somehow made her look a hundred times more beautiful. Somehow he knew that this smile belonged to the real Morgan, the one who was hidden inside her shell. And he didn't like it. He loved it. ''I'm sorry if I somehow involved you in my mess... yeah, I know, Jennifer is great but I didn't want to see her. We didn't end up badly but my reasons were quite embarrassing.'' he didn't know why he was telling that to Morgan. ''I still feel quite... I don't know...'' ''Ashamed?'' ''Yeah'' he admitted. ''We were better off as friends, I suppose.'' once he started talking it was almost impossible to stop. ''I mean, our relationship was fine... but it wasn't exciting.'' Morgan couldn't believe that she was getting all that information. ''Is the same with Florence. She's a great woman but there's no fire and she's not... nothing.'' He was about to say 'She's not you' in front of Morgan herself and that was the worst thing that could ever happen to him. Morgan would never let him be after that and the guilt he was already feeling was going to consume him. But for once Morgan didn't look condescending but rather a bit sympathetic. ''I'm a bit sorry for you. It seems that you've got no one to talk if you're confessing this stuff to me.'' But inside her head the only things she could hear were sirens, provoked by what he had just confessed. So, he wasn't happy in his relationship... Take that, Taylor! It wasn't Morgan's fault at all, after all. He was simply dating the wrong woman for God knows what reason. So, it wasn't that unreasonable that he had started looking at his beautiful co-star with other eyes. It wasn't as if Florence was a bad person or anything, quite the contrary, Morgan thought, they just weren't for each other, it was easy as that. ''Are you okay?'' he asked and Morgan realised that she had got lost in her thoughts. ''Yeah, I was just thinking that you seem to have some sort of mental block that makes you unable to do whatever you the hell you want to.'' ''Are you questioning my life choices?'' he asked. ''No'' she cheekily looked at his eyes. ''I'm just making a commentary. If I were your guardian angel I'd be banging my head against a wall at every bad choice you make. I'd probably be unconscious by now. Or dead, who knows.'' Damn Morgan Llewellyn striking straight to the wound. No one else with the exception of his mother had been so direct with him. She was honest and he loved it. ''Maybe that's the reason I'm quite a mess. And what happened to your angel, Morgan?'' ''Probably resigned when I was five. It couldn't be with me anymore. Since then I probably have a guardian demon.'' ''And that's explains a lot.'' he joked. Of course that they didn't believe in guardian angels, they were just trying to justify Sebastian's bad life choices and Morgan's questionable approach to life. ''We're quite a well matched couple. My unconscious and probably dead angel and your demon.'' ''That sounds like the plot of a cheesy and awful Young Adult book that probably Hollywood would adapt into a movie afterwards. You can act in it.'' ''No, thanks. I had enough of awful supernatural movies with The Covenant.'' ''I don't blame you'' They were easily getting well again, walking around the place, laughing at people and at themselves. That was until they finally found Nicole Kidman and Morgan was so shocked that she didn't manage to make a sound. ''Sebastian, sweetie!'' she greeted him and it was evident that Nicole held him in high esteem. ''I was looking for you. We have the panel before the screening in twenty minutes so get ready. I want you to talk, sweetie, because sometimes you stay in silence during the whole interview.'' ''But I never get anything asked! And I'm not going to interrupt when you are talking because that's rude.'' ''Okay, fair enough. I'll find a way for you to talk and you're going to do it.'' then Nicole's eyes focused on Morgan. ''Goodness... Morgan Llewellyn, I thought Sebastian was joking when he said earlier today during the press junkets that he was going to bring you as his date. It's great to finally meet you!'' ''Likewise.'' Morgan was impressed. She didn't know that Nicole Kidman was aware of her existence. ''You and Seb make a gorgeous off screen couple. I can't wait to see your on screen chemistry.'' This time Morgan didn't shout that they were just co-stars. With an angelic smile on his face she got closer to Sebastian. But he was wrong of he though that Morgan was going to lie in front of Nicole Kidman that they were a couple. She was just going to tell the truth in some other way. ''We're definitely having a good time filming the movie'' Sebastian wanted to laugh. Yes, they had had good moments on sets but they had also shouted at each other on the first day of filming. ''But Seb and I are not a couple'' Morgan looked at Nicole with puppy dog eyes, as if she were sad by the fact that Sebastian and her were not together. Sebastian almost believed her, except from the fact that he knew that Morgan was devious as hell and she could make people believe whatever she wanted. It was a great tool in the laid back relationship she had with the press. ''That's kind of disappointing.'' Nicole admitted. ''I was rooting for you two.'' 'Yeah, me too' thought Morgan. Since 2013. But life was a bitch and even though she had all the chances in the world with him, she couldn't do anything without damaging her career. She didn't want to be known as 'boyfriend stealer' and Sebastian as a cheater. Sebastian was the one who had to get out of his own mess so Morgan could do something about it. Deep inside, Sebastian agreed with Nicole. She was also rooting for him and Morgan. ''Anyway...'' Nicole decided to leave them alone. ''I have to get going. See you in twenty minutes.'' Morgan waited until Nicole was out of sight to speak. ''Oh my Gosh, she knew who I was!'' she looked like a teenager fan of some boyband member. ''This is totally crazy. I had no idea that Nicole Kidman knew of my existence.'' she grabbed Sebastian arm and looked at him with her eyes full of happiness. Sebastian had never seen her like that. ''I reacted the same way when I met her. She also knew who I was and I almost passed out. I still can't believe I got to work with her.'' ''I understand how it feels'' Morgan gave him a meaningful look. ''Working with someone you've admired for a long time.'' of course that she was referring to him but she was not going to admit it. ''That's what I felt when I worked with Ian McKellen.'' Making their way towards the theatre room should have been a very simple task but thanks to all the people that stopped them in the middle, they needed ten minutes to get there. Most of them wanted to talk to Morgan. ''You'll see that in the next months you'll have many of these people fighting to offer you roles. When our movie comes out you won't be able to live in peace. Directors will be approaching you in the craziest of places. Damien Chazelle himself got me in the bathroom of the airport the same day I was leaving to Greece.'' Morgan stopped walking. That was not the version of the story she knew. ''Wait a second... didn't you have to audition for the role? The media kept saying that you, Tom Holland and Timothee were competing for the role.'' Sebastian shook his head. ''That was a rumour that Damien himself put up there not to make that obvious that I had the role since the first day. It's true that he cast you first and he told me that you were his first option since he saw you in Lady Macbeth in 2016. Then he got a hold of you through a Juilliard woman who knew Ian McKellen. He saw all of your RADA auditions and offered you the role at the last one. Once you agreed he approached me in that bathroom and offered me the role and he told me who my co-star was and that you and I were going to set the screen on fire. He wasn't wrong. To put it simply, he had chosen us before we even knew about it.'' ''The sneaky bastard...'' Morgan couldn't believe it. ''So, I had my career saved since 2016 and I learnt about that in 2018. I went through useless auditions for TV commercials for nothing. And I didn't even got the jobs. Damn it, Damien Chazelle, you could have told me about this before.'' ''He had to wait for the green light from the studio to do the movie and that probably took him some time. And he was also directing First Manduring that time.'' ''I suppose you're right. Still, we should be even more grateful with the guy. We were Damien Chazelle's first option. Your career was going pretty well before but maybe this role gets you an Oscar nom or at least a Golden Globe. And me... well... I wasn't as glamorous six months ago and look at me now. The story tells itself.'' No matter what Morgan said, he could never imagine her being not glamorous or forgettable. It was Morgan bloody Llewellyn, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen who also had an striking personality that stood out. ''I seemed that he was shipping us before we knew about each other's existence.'' Yeah, sure, Sebastian, Morgan thought. Maybe he had had no idea who she was but Morgan had been crushing on Sebastian since 2013. ''The least thing we can do to thank him is to marry each other after we finish filming and let Damien officiate.'' Morgan joked and Sebastian looked as if he was considering the idea and actually liking it. ''I'm joking, Stan. I don't want to ever marry you. Not for a million dollars.'' L.I.A.R. Sebastian wasn't even disappointed. He knew that Morgan was going to say stuff like that but that didn't mean that they were true. ''And here I was, thinking that it was a good idea. I can book us a date in the court house for us to marry. And remember Morgan, it's for life.'' ''For the love of God, what did I do that I deserve to spent the rest of my life with you. That is what I call punishment.'' Of course that Morgan didn't believe in what she was saying but it was priceless to say stuff like that in front of Sebastian. Unfortunately for them the banter couldn't go on as Sebastian's panel was starting and he was rushed on stage and Morgan was guided to her seat. Nicole had been right when she had said that Sebastian almost never talked because he said like one sentence in the whole panel. Yeah, it was true that he was a supporting character but Morgan wanted to stand up and shout at him to talk. When the panel was over he went to seat next to Morgan. ''How did it went?'' ''Fine. I love Nicole Kidman, it's for her that I'm here, remember that.'' ''Nah, you're here for me and you know it.'' ''You wish'' and she wasn't lying this time. The only reason why she agreed with Damien's plan of her coming with Sebastian to Toronto was because she was going to meet Nicole Kidman. ''I do, to be honest. There's is going to be a day when you'll go to my events willingly and not to meet someone else.'' ''I can't see the future so I don't know what to comment.'' ''You're unbelievable'' he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pressed her against him. He went one step further and kissed her forehead. It was surprising that she didn't push him away. 

This is Morgan’s dress, without the veil thing. And yes, it’s Alexander McQueen.

P.S. @thatoneslytherinbeater gave me the idea of starting a tag list, so if you want to be in it, just like this post.

I went to see Captain Marvel and I felt so empowered afterwards, like I could do anything. I love my girl Carol Danvers and the lovely Brie Larson to pieces.

[takenpeace]

“I’ve got you”

Send “I’ve got you” to help my muse wash off blood from their body 

@gcdsaved

AS  IF  HE  WAS  A  YOUNG   child  again,  Paul  sits  in  the  middle  of  the  room  on  the  floor. Knees  pressed  against  his  bare  chest. His  hair  is  swept up into a bun away  from  his  neck  and  back  as  his  arms  are wrapped  around  his  knees.  It’s  as  if  his  childhood  has  been  brought  back  to  punch  him  in  the  face  and  he’s  damn  near  on  the  verge  of  a  panic  attack.  Blood  drips  down  his  back  from  the  wound  now  adorning  his  skin.  

They all  have  sins  and  their  sins  need  to  be  DISPLAYED  for  all  to  see  to  showcase  that  they  won’t  hide  behind  them. They  won’t  pretend  that  they  are  completely  devoid  of  wrong  doing  or  temptation. Convinced  this  was  the  only  way  to  obtain  TRUE  salvation,  Paul  feels  completely  exposed, vulnerable,   and  on  the  verge  of  a  breakdown,  but  John  is  there  with  his  calming  words  of  encouragement  and  faithful  preach  that  he  can  find  comfort  in. 

Knowing  that  this  is  the  TRUE  PATH  he  much  take. His  hands  wipe  his  back  down  gently  with  a  sponge  carefully  rung  with  water  to  wash  the  blood  away.  He’ll do  what  he  has  to  do  to  accept  the  holy  light  and  secure  his  place  within  Eden. It’s  a  small  step  that  he’s  hesitantly  agreed  to  take,  but  his  family  means  much  more  to  him  than  his  doubts. 

[easyhairstylesbest]

Pisces Monthly Horoscope

MONTH OF January

Monthly Snapshot

Get into the flow! After a hyperkinetic 2020, the new year begins at a more Piscean pace, with lots of divine downloads, creative epiphanies and nostalgic forays down winding tangents that take you…well, who cares where you end up? Certainly not you right now!

Your bohemian side leads the charge until January 19, while the Sun is in Capricorn and your carefree eleventh house of teamwork and technology. You’ll be in the mood to commune with your crew until then. But afterward, the Sun slips into Aquarius and your restful twelfth house, joining three other planets, and it’s hibernation ON.

With Jupiter and Saturn beginning their first full months of a long trek through Aquarius, your (Pisces-ruled) twelfth house is activated, making you a channel as well as an emotional sponge. You’ll need to guard your boundaries and shield your field to prevent yourself from soaking up everyone’s feelings around you (hashtag-empath, anyone?). The silver lining: If you properly protect and nurture yourself, you could settle into a poignant year where your healing and artistic powers build into a renaissance era.

You’ll have no shortage of great ideas either, since energizer Mars and mad-scientist Uranus are both in Taurus for most of January, sparking your intellect and turning you into a one-Fish communication station. But make sure all signals are clear, not crossed, before Mercury turns retrograde on January 30, muddling your messaging and playing trickster with your technology.

Week 1: January 1-10

What a great idea!

Bring on the fresh innovations! On Wednesday, January 6, energizer Mars enters Taurus and your third house of communication and interactivity until March 3. Your social life, even if it’s virtual, is about to pick up speed. Get ready to start the year with a flurry of meetings and other invitations. Your mind will be hungry for new information and forward-thinking people during this time. Just pace yourself so you don’t overload!

This creative, collaborative energy boost will be a relief—and one that’s a long time coming. Since June 27, 2020, Mars has been making an extended trip through Aries and your second house of work and money, revving up your revenue but also increasing stress and job demands.

Have you been working long hours trying to get ahead, but still bumping up against constant deadlines? Or perhaps you’ve faced unexpected expenses that forced you to take on even more new projects or responsibilities? If life has felt like a stressful grind, Mars is to blame for that. The upside? You also got a cosmic confidence boost, a strong sense of your own resilience and the conviction to live by your most cherished principles.

All those irons you’ve put in the fire will start to pay off in a new way now, especially if you find ways to market and share them. Keep your batteries charged by regularly getting away from screens and devices…and if possible, from work altogether. Variety will keep your mind refreshed and receptive. Bust up any draining habits you’ve picked up with Mars in Aries and bring on the novel experiences.

Hint: This new Mars transit is less about “what you do” and more about “who you know.” The emphasis between now and March 3 should be on circulating yourself and boldly sharing your brightest ideas and pioneering projects.

Week 2: January 11-17

Ups and downs

Lean in…or lean back? This week finds you doing your best impersonation of the Energizer Bunny, scrambling off in a million different directions, then crashing. Blame it on a consortium of planets activating both your Taurus-ruled third house of communication and your Aquarius-governed twelfth house of rest, healing and imagination. One part of you is psyched to have a million irons in the fire, while the other part wants to escape for a long winter’s nap!

To be more specific: Go-getter Mars and innovative Uranus are both in Taurus all month, making your mind run a million miles an hour. But expansive Jupiter and cautious Saturn have hunkered down into Aquarius, luring you into hibernation. You could be torn between what your logical mind and your intuition are telling you, and they’ll be giving you very different messaging. This is already filed under #PiscesProblems on a normal day, but this week, that tension reaches new heights.

It all begins on Wednesday, January 13, when Mars and Saturn get embroiled in a tense square. You’re multitasking and juggling a million projects…then suddenly sobering Saturn throws ice water on your big plans. You might realize with a crash that you didn’t really set yourself up with a proper strategy, or that you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. And while the pressure’s on to give answers or make decisions, you simply don’t have all the information you need to do so.

Do everything possible to buy some extra time, Pisces. On Thursday, January 14, innovative Uranus wakes up from a five-month retrograde in your cerebral third house. You’ll suddenly see options that you couldn’t before, and you’ll feel confident exploring these out-of-the-box new ideas. Bonus: There will be ZERO retrograde planets for the next two weeks, granting you cosmic clearance to make major moves without second-guessing yourself.

Adding to the planetary pick-me-up this Thursday, the confident Sun will make its annual conjunction (meetup) with powerhouse Pluto in Capricorn and your eleventh house of teamwork and technology. Is it time to align yourself with a new group? You could be invited into the upper echelons of a well-connected and innovative crew. Pay special attention to the people you surround yourself with—are they lifting you up or dragging you down? Cut those energy vampires loose because an exciting collaboration could be coming your way soon.

Ready to truly free yourself from a confining situation? On Sunday, January 17, two of the most freedom-seeking planets, Jupiter and Uranus, lock into an embattled square. This happens once every seven years, and when it does, anything that feels codependent or limiting could make you want to break away.

Have you taken on too many projects or opinion-polled one too many people? It’s time to bust out of “analysis paralysis” and to unburden yourself of obligations that don’t feel fulfilling. Doing things out of duty might temporarily ease your guilt, but the resentment that builds up isn’t worth the price of admission for that.

Week 3: January 18-24

Tune in or turn off?

Downshift, Pisces. This is the week the stars help you finally settle into full-on hibernation. (Well, mostly—more on that in a minute.) On Tuesday, January 19, the Sun enters Aquarius and your restful twelfth house until February 18, joining Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn. Life is but a (lucid) dream—and you could feel like you’re in a surreal state much of the time. Tap into your vivid imagination while your creative and spiritual powers are super-charged.

Just when you thought it was safe to unplug, your devices start blowing up with news, texts and exciting communications this Wednesday, January 20, when activator Mars and changemaker Uranus connect in Taurus and your third house of ideas and information. This will be equal parts thrilling and overwhelming, especially since there could be some curveball or bombshell announcements triggered by this midweek mashup.

Got a message to share or something to promote? Go “live” today and shout it from the virtual rooftops. Your powers of persuasion, mixed with a touch of Uranian shock value and Martian swagger, will definitely capture attention.

On Saturday, January 23, Mars will clash with over-the-top Jupiter in your dreamy twelfth house, a battle between your logical left brain and intuitive right brain. You could feel torn between listening to your head or your heart. Both will be doggedly vying for your attention. Someone may be demanding answers or a fast reply, but your intuition KNOWS you’re not ready to make that decision yet. To whatever extent possible, stall!

How slow CAN you go, Pisces? When sobering Saturn makes its once-a-year conjunction with the revitalizing Sun on Saturday, the cosmos pulls the brake big-time. This mindful merger in your twelfth house of closure puts a “hard stop” on toxic or codependent patterns, relationships and dynamics.

Since Saturn makes things tangible, any inner struggles could be reflected in breakdowns in your mental and even your physical wellbeing. You’re forced to take off the rose-colored spectacles and look at the harsh truth. Maybe you’ve put someone on a pedestal and ignored a few questionable facets of their character. Denial isn’t an option today.

Have you put off grieving a loss or dealing with old but unaddressed wounds? Perhaps there’s someone to forgive and release, a person who treated you poorly or even abusively, even trauma you haven’t recovered from yet. If you’re in a caregiver position, guard against burnout by getting the support you need.

Both the Sun and Saturn are linked to the masculine and father archetype, and this could be the day to address any “dad issues.” Stop to heal and deal. If you reach out for support, make sure it’s with qualified professionals ONLY. Check their credentials and references thoroughly.

Week 4: January 25-31

Naptime with the muse

Welcome to Imagination Station! This week, four heavenly bodies converge in insightful Aquarius and your twelfth house of rest, creativity and closure. The Sun, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn are all in this inventive sign, activating its healing and artistic zone.

On the upside, you could have a serious creative or spiritual breakthrough. But you might also be verging on burnout or in need of some serious R&R. Tak a guilt-free nap if at all possible. You may just do some of your most important work while you’re sleeping! Keep a notebook handy in case you have vivid dreams so you can properly preserve your celestial inspiration.

On Tuesday, January 26, the Sun in rational Aquarius will square off against disruptor Uranus in emotional Taurus, echoing the tension of the January 17 Jupiter-Uranus square. Once again, you’ll be pulled between head and heart, logic and intuition.

Disruptive Uranus in your communication zone could bust up your mellow groove with a million calls, texts and appointments. A fast-talking person could try to rush you into an arrangement you’re simply not ready for. You may feel pressured to make a decision, but your intuition is strongly insisting that there’s more to this story. When in doubt, wait it out.

Clarity could arrive on Thursday, January 28, when a full moon in bold Leo illuminates your sensible, fact-finding sixth house. You’ll know exactly which questions to ask to get the information you need. The sixth house rules wellness and organization, and these moonbeams could inspire everything from a major decluttering to a kickoff of your 2021 wellness goals.

Even better? On Thursday, the Sun will conjunct expansive Jupiter in their once-a-year meetup, known as the Day of Miracles and considered by astrologers to be one of the luckiest days of the year. For Pisces, this event will supercharge your dreamy twelfth house even more—opening up a direct connection to divine inspiration. Is this the moment when you finally, deeply get a handle on whatever’s been holding you back? Letting go now can bring incredible closure and healing, and could very well provide the inspiration for making 2021 a year you’ll WANT to remember.

You may have to keep those insights to yourself for a bit, though, because on Saturday, January 30,class=”body-el-link standard-body-el-link” communication planet Mercury will turn retrograde in Aquarius and your twelfth house of closure and illusion until February 20. This time isn’t favorable for clear communication, and you may feel completely exhausted by all the mental and spiritual work you’ve been doing.

As much as you want to check out, avoid doing so in unhealthy ways. Keep letting go, forgive as deeply as you can, and make rest your number-one priority. When Pisces season begins on February 18, you’ll emerge restored and ready for a fresh start.

LOVE & ROMANCE:

Ready for a little more fun in your love life? Incoming! This January 6, agitating Mars leaves Aries and your sector of money, security and practical matters after being parked there for six months. You probably felt SOME pressure around making a relationship official or locking down stability with your emotions or your hard-earned (and quickly depleted) cash reserves. For some Fish, money stress may have gotten in the way of relationships or harmony, whether that was finding the funds or getting vulnerable enough to connect intimately.

Once Mars moves on to Taurus and your expressive third house, you’ll naturally seek to create more time for socializing. Variety in and of itself becomes a turn-on, whether that means multiple partners or just spending more time with friends—IRL or virtually. Now that you’re focusing on this area of life again, you might realize that a few of those bonds need repair. Open up the lines of communication and be gracious, humble and ready to listen.

On January 8, loving Venus moves into Capricorn and your friendship zone until February 1, making it so much easier to articulate what you’re feeling without taking things personally. While it may be tough to host parties or play matchmaker, you might cash in some karmic dividends acquired from all the times you played Cupid and introduced people. Sparks could fly with a friend or someone you meet online, especially at the annual harmonious hookup of Venus and Mars on January 9 , when a meeting of the minds can lead to a melding of the hearts.

Key Dates:

January 9: Venus-Mars trine

Bring on the lasting love! As affectionate Venus and passionate Mars harmonize in stable earth signs, you could have true romance with all the trimmings—sensuality and stability. Skip the “come here now go away” players and their mixed messages. A partner who makes you feel secure is suddenly the most attractive catch in town. Coupled? Mark a long-term relationship with a thoughtful gift to let your mate know how much you cherish them.

MONEY & CAREER:

  Dear Reader: To bring you cutting-edge financial and career astrology, we’ve replaced our monthly Money & Career horoscope with an expanded new offering. And we’re burstinclass=”body-el-link standard-body-el-link” g with excitement to announce it!

We invite you to join the waitlist for our Astropreneurs community, where we’ll be sharing tools, trainings and cosmic career coaching in 2021 and beyond! Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a dreamer with a side hustle or just looking for deeper satisfaction from your work, we’ll guide you to your path and purpose by the stars.

2021 Vision Board Experience: January 28 with The AstroTwins Ready to design a path that truly fulfills you in 2021? Joclass=”body-el-link standard-body-el-link” in us for a star-powered live online event to create success, leadership and impact on January 28, 2021. Tickets available at https://astrostyle.com/visionboard21

Love Days: 26, 3

Money Days: 10, 19

Luck Days: 8, 16

Off Days: 28, 6

See All Signs

Shop ELLE.com’s Exclusive Zodiac PopSockets

Aries Astrology Galaxy PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Aries Illustrated PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Taurus Astrology Galaxy PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Taurus Illustrated PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Gemini Astrology Galaxy PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Gemini Illustrated PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Cancer Astrology Galaxy PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Cancer Illustrated PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Leo Astrology Galaxy PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Leo Illustrated PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Virgo Astrology Galaxy PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Virgo Illustrated PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Libra Astrology Galaxy PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Libra Illustrated PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Scorpio Astrology Galaxy PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Scorpio Illustrated PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Sagittarius Astrology Galaxy PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Sagittarius Illustrated PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Aquarius Astrology Galaxy PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Aquarius Illustrated PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Pisces Astrology Galaxy PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Pisces Illustrated PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Capricorn Illustrated PopSocket

Stars & ‘Scopes amazon.com

$14.99

Capricon Astrology Galaxy PopSocket

The AstroTwins Identical twin sisters Ophira and Tali Edut (The AstroTwins), have been ELLE.com‘s official astrologers for over a decade.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Pisces Monthly Horoscope

[therussianherbalist-blog]

Valerian - the ‘dampener’

Valerian root is one of my all-time favourite herbs. Perhaps that is partly due to how commonplace its use is in Russia; hysterical women in drama shows on television drank glasses of water with a few drops of valerian tincture; my auntie took a bunch of valerian pills at my cousin’s wedding to calm her nerves; my own mother fed me it as a child when I sobbed my eyes out after we fought many times.

It is definitely a quirky herb to work with, and not to everyone’s liking. Its distinctive smell can often be sensed from a few meters away, even through packaging! The effects of it are sometimes unpredictable - some particularly sensitive people experience a narcotic effect or an adverse reaction of some kind (I have heard people talk about valerian-hangover symptoms), so it is wise to start with a few drops of tincture when first trying it to test the waters.

(image) So, what does valerian actually do? If you ask people in the UK, they usually have heard of its use as a sleep aid, although I personally would not use it that way. The herb is quite heating - herbs are classified as ‘warm’ or ‘cold’ in herbalism depending on their effect on the body - ideally, you would want a cool or neutral-quality herb to aid sleep. This use of it seems to have originated in the West relatively recently. Prior to this, M. Grieve wrote of its use as a calming agent in the Second World War during air-raids in A Modern Herbal (1971). In Russia, it has a long-standing use for calming emotions in those experiencing intense emotion, anxiety or hysteria.

The perfect situations to give valerian in would include if someone is crying so hard they are wailing, sobbing and can barely catch a breath; if someone has just had a panic attack; any situation where emotions are so intense that they have taken over a person temporarily. The tincture has a rich, smoky taste (a 1:1 fluid extract is particularly seductive) and when you drink it at these times of emotional fraughtness, it feels at once both as if a wave has washed over you and washed away the painful feelings and as if some kind of comforting dampener has been placed on top of you - perhaps a weighted blanket, or some large, full-body, wet sponge. You can begin to breathe and relax; the effect is instant.

Now, what do we know about the science behind this mysterious, yet popular herb? We know that valerian binds to GABA-receptors in the body, although studies have not yet shown how exactly this translates to its effects. However, as GABA-receptors help to mediate impulses throughout the entire nervous system, this is its presumed mode of action. Some have suggested it may even have anticonvulsant properties, as the root contains isovaleric acid, the analogue of which - valproic acid - is a mood stabiliser, antipsychotic and anticonvulsant, used to treat people suffering with bipolar disorder amongst others in psychiatry. Fortunately, long-term use of valerian does not cause the same adverse effects as valproid acid, which include infertility, metabolic and endocrine imbalances, and liver toxicity.

(image)

My fellow herbalists shared their experience of this herb with me whilst I was still studying, and I wanted to recount one interesting case that has stuck with me. A lady in the middle of a breakdown bursts into the practice of a herbalist, completely frantic and inconsolable, perhaps even verging on psychotic. It turns out that a few nights before she had seen a news report of 9/11 on the television, and despite being in the UK, she became extremely distressed - near nonsensical in her speech and behaviour - and her nerves were like a bundle of crossed wires. In the herbalist’s great wisdom, the lady was handed an entire 300ml bottle of valerian tincture, which she was instructed to drink throughout the day. She was on this regimen with a gradual decrease of tincture to a normal dose over a period of a couple of weeks, and - what do you know, she was quietened and calm whilst taking the root, slowly brought back to herself. Two years later was running her own business, no longer plagued by her sensitivity and extreme distress.

It can even be used in headaches and migraine, as its relaxant properties help to relax and dilate the tension in muscles in the neck and shoulders and widen blood vessels to return proper blood flow to the head, and soothe during stress. With this same mode of action, it can help to restore blood flow and relax cramping during menstruation. The herbalists I worked with utilised valerian in this manner most often.

In summary, Valerian is an interesting character, somewhat enigmatic and not always easy - but it rewards handsomely those that are able to work with it, and will forever be a herb that I revere.

[dezandthebabes-blog]

On the Outside Looking In

Have you ever had one of those days where you felt like you were in another world? Or on another planet? Have you just had a day where you felt numb amd confused? This happened to me today. I imagined myself in another person's body looking down at myself. I saw someone I've never met before. This woman had a look of defeat, a look you could tell wasn't hiding the pain anymore. A woman who had enough but felt bad because she felt she would let her children down. A woman who wondered what would life be like without her. A woman who was drained mentally and physically. A woman who's trying so hard not to crumble. Most importantly I saw what postpartum depression can do to a mama. Then I tried to imagine what PPD/depression looks like inside this woman's head. I saw memories from the past and present clash together creating a big mess of emotions. I saw so much happening to the point where the brain was on the verge of shutting down. I saw little people running around like crazy trying to put little pieces of paper that represented emotions, things to do, etc into little drawers. It reminded me of an episode of Sponge Bob when he forgets how to male a Krabby Patty. I then saw little sentences scan across like a scanner. There was "I can't do this", "I'm not good enough" , "It's all my fault", "They're better off without me", "Why me god?", "When is life going to get better?". Then something weird happened... The little light I could see started to dim like movie theater lights do right before a movie comes on.... Is this what a breakdown is supposed to look like in the mind? Is this what it looks like when a depressed mind has had too much and can't take anymore? Is this real? As i remain looking down at this woman, I try to see what her body is going through on the inside. The outside is not hard to miss. Usually there's a pokerface, a fake smile to hide the pain but not today. As I'm looking I can see the inside slowly shattering like glass, piece by piece. I look closer and can see the pain this woman has been trying to hide. I can see her heart slowly breaking as it's trying it's hardest to stay together. I can see her body slowly changing. Everything looks so worn out, beaten down, and damaged. Is this what the inside of a person's body whom is suffering looks like? Is this what depression does to one's body on the inside?...... Lastly I take one last and final look at this broken woman. The outside of her body showing every sign of pain. Every sign of suffering. As I continue to look I notice every imperfection that makes her, her. I pay attention to every sign that is crying out for help silently but no one is around. I notice her hands are hiding her eyes that's being flooded by tears. Tears flowing through her fingers like a tiny creek stream that soon hits her knees resting against the side of her hands. Still paying attention I see the fetal position that her body starts to position itself in. As her messy hair falls in front of her face I then realize this pain is real. This is what depression does to a person. This is what depression does to the mind and body. Just because some times we can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there. This is exactly what many people feel struggling. Our bodies don't feel the same, Our hearts want to feel love, the love we see on t.v., in a movie, in a magazine, even the love we see our friends show so badly. We feel hopeless and helpless. It's almost like we're not in control of our bodies, feelings, emotions, etc. So yes, this is what depression does to us. This is the pain we suffer from. This. Is. Us....A victim of depression. One day we will finally shine the light and support those suffering in silence. Together, we will let love in and let love win. One day we will conquer this. Together we will stand up and stop the negative stigma of PPD/depression. One day we will rise up and kiss our demons goodbye! And that day will be soon. What doesn't kill us will only make us stronger!

[kartiavelino]

Catching up with the Tony nominees

Not even a wizard can greatest Tina Fey — or conquer a not-so-simple sponge. Fey’s first Broadway musical, “Imply Women,” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” squeezed out 12 Tony Award nominations apiece on Tuesday morning, besting even “Harry Potter and the Cursed Little one.” That British import, thought-about a shoo-in for Finest Play, conjured up 10. All instructed, the Tony choice committee had just a few surprises up its sleeve, together with a Finest Actress nod for Amy Schumer, the vivid mild of Steve Martin’s (now-defunct) darkish comedy “Meteor Bathe.” Much less stunning was a nomination for Denzel Washington, up for his work in “The Iceman Cometh,” and a Particular Tony for Bruce Springsteen, as a result of who doesn’t need him to spice up an awards present? And whereas Jimmy Buffett’s “Escape to Margaritaville” got here up empty-handed, the broadly derided “Summer time: The Donna Summer time Musical” managed to web nods for 2 of its three Donnas, LaChanze and Ariana DeBose. “The Band’s Go to,” broadly thought-about the strongest new musical of the season, racked up 11 nominations, together with these for stars Katrina Lenk and Tony Shalhoub as a sultry Israeli cafe proprietor and the Egyptian band chief she takes in for the evening. Additionally nominated was composer David Yazbek, a “three-time Tony loser” (“The Full Monty,” “Soiled Rotten Scoundrels,” “Ladies on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”) who simply may nail it this time. Rounding out the class was Disney’s “Frozen,” which opened to lukewarm evaluations. Then once more, the notices for “Imply Women” — or “Meh Women,” as The Put up’s Sara Stewart put it — weren’t so sizzling both. Surprisingly, neither Caissie Levy nor Patti Murin, the powerhouse stars of “Frozen,” obtained a nod. Considered one of the most heated races is for Finest Revival of a Musical, during which “My Honest Woman” and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Carousel” are going face to face. “Carousel,” which brings “Lovely” Tony winner Jessie Mueller again to Broadway, netted 11 nominations, another than its rival. “Angels in America,” the return of Tony Kushner’s epic meditation on the age of AIDS, led the subject for Finest Revival of a Play, with two of its 11 nominations going to Andrew Garfield, as a dying drag queen, and Nathan Lane, as a vicious Roy Cohn. Lane is in the supporting-actor class, leaving Garfield to duke it out with Washington, Mark Rylance (“Farinelli and the King”), Tom Hollander (“Travesties”) and Jamie Parker (“Harry Potter”). Additionally in the operating for greatest revival are Edward Albee’s “Three Tall Ladies” — alongside with stars Glenda Jackson and Laurie Metcalf — and Kenneth Lonergan’s “Foyer Hero.” That present, now enjoying a newly renovated Hayes Theater, received nods for Michael Cera and “Atlanta” star Brian Tyree Henry. Naturally, everybody was thrilled to listen to their names introduced. Jack Thorne, nominated for his e-book for “Harry Potter,” says J.Okay. Rowling had but to examine in. “She’s arduous at work on one other Strike e-book [her mystery series],” he tells The Put up from London, the place he tried and didn’t get the Tony dwell feed engaged on his pc. “My spouse principally sat there telling me I’m an fool,” he says. He discovered the excellent news on Twitter. Lauren Ridloff, a former Miss Deaf America, made her Broadway debut in “Youngsters of a Lesser God” reverse “The Affair” star Joshua Jackson. She’d forgotten all about the Tonys, and booked a therapeutic massage Tuesday morning. Her husband, Doug, got here in to provide her updates whereas she lay on the desk. A number of nominees had been taking their youngsters to highschool at the time, together with Lauren Ambrose, the Cockney flower lady of Lincoln Heart’s “My Honest Woman,” and Gavin Lee, who performs the curmudgeonly pal of Ethan Slater’s SpongeBob SquarePants. (Slater, the musical’s funsize, 25-year-old star, is up for Finest Actor.) “Taking my 7-year-old daughter to highschool was loads much less irritating than sitting in entrance of a pc,” Lee, the father of three, tells The Put up from Maplewood, NJ, all the whereas drilling holes in his storage for his son’s climbing wall. The Tony Awards will happen at Radio Metropolis on June 10, and telecast on CBS. Right here’s hoping somebody seats Glenda Jackson and Amy Schumer collectively — and lets us eavesdrop. Share this: https://nypost.com/2018/05/01/catching-up-with-the-tonys-nominees/ The post Catching up with the Tony nominees appeared first on My style by Kartia. http://www.kartiavelino.com/2018/05/catching-up-with-the-tony-nominees.html

[written-words-92]

Entry 5, 1-6-17 1:51am

Clearly It’s been awhile since i’ve last blogged and I frankly really need this. I’ve been so down especially over the past year and a half that I haven’t actually been fully happy and I hate this feeling. Depression sinks in like water in a sponge and even when you squeeze it tight and some of it goes away there’s always just that little bit there that makes you slightly damp. Over the past year I’ve gone through 2 jobs, One which i left for a job which i thought was worth it. The day after christmas I was sent an email stating that I would no longer have a job come the 27th and after reading that I felt some heavy weight on my chest and haven’t felt at ease since then. I am on the verge of a really bad breakdown and I don’t even know who to talk to i just want to stay in my room, sleep all day and not even do anything. Everytime I take a step forward, i’m 2 steps back and quite honestly i’m tired. I’m tired of running, tired of constantly in a battle with myself on being happy. Some people say you don’t need money to be happy but you really do. I hate being at home doing nothing but at the same time i’m so tired of running, so tired of fighting, so tired of constantly going back and forth with life trying to win, It’s so hard and i just don’t know how to feel. People claim to be my friends yet always need me to help them but never stop to ask me how i’m doing or if i’m okay. I understand everyone is busy and has their own lifes but I just want to be able to have someone i can talk to, a shoulder to cry on, and that’s just never been the case for me. Life has been so absolutely rough for me and I don’t know how to get out of this hole i feel that i’ve dug myself into, it’s tearing me up inside that i feel like i could never be fully happy. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m just so tired.