#that she just drew him a smile with sharpie lol

[graysmiles-world]

Alt Marinette AU

thank you so much for your help @starrynighttime​!!

PSA: I do know that “alt” is not a type of aesthetic or actual ideology, however I drew and wrote this idea without a set subculture in mind, and now cannot find one that I think would fit her. Let me know if you have any ideas!

A little story introducing the AU below! Let me know if you want to continue or I can just leave it at a oneshot lol.

Adrien sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror that resided in the men’s locker room. He ran his fingers through his hair once more, smoothing it down in the back. 

This was the first time that he was lying to his father about where he was, if you didn’t count the akuma attacks that pulled him away to become Coléoptère Rouge. Tikki floated up next to his shoulder pressing, her little pad of a hand against his bare shoulder.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” she told him with that reassuring smile of hers. 

“I know,” he responded - still looking at the white tank top and blue basketball shorts (that he had borrowed from Kim) in the mirror. “but I want to.”

Before Tikki could respond, Nino came bursting into the locker room and she quickly flew into his bag that laid at his feet. Adrien leaned down to grab it as Nino bounded up to him - dressed in a similar outfit. The only glaring difference was how his bright red cap was still a part of the ensemble. 

“You ready, man?” he asked, clapping Adrien’s shoulder. He looked over and smiled at his best friend.

“Yup!” Pause. “What exactly are we doing again?”

Nino just laughed, leading them out of the locker room and into the courtyard where there was already a crowd of teenage boys. All dressed in white shirts and shorts. 

“This is the Track Team tradition! The Course de Couleur!” 

“Yes, but you haven’t exactly told me what we’re doing yet.”

Nino sighed good-heartedly “Basically, the art kids come with all their extra paint. And while we run the track, they throw it all on us.”

Adrien blinked. “So basically they’re just going to throw paint at us.”

“Yup.”

He grinned, “Sounds fun!”

-

There were a lot of art kids, Adrien found out as he readied himself to run. When Nino had talked about the kids in the different arts, he imagined a few scraggly teens with dyed hair and bright clothes - and that they wouldn’t be strong enough to get enough paint on him. 

He was dead wrong. There were a few with dyed hair and bright clothes, but that was the minority. But there were tons of kids, enough for them to cover each side of the track. And with paint cans scattered among them. He was going to get absolutely covered in paint.

“I’m going to need to shower at your place before going home,” he said to Nino - who was tying his shoes.

“Of course, man.” 

Adrien hadn’t told his father about the little tradition that Nino said he had to come to, knowing that it was probably nothing that he would be allowed to do - especially when he was barely able to join the track team at all. So he just told him that it was the first of track practice. 

Their coach stood off to the side, a large hunking man with the name of Coach Lawerence. He stared at all the boys, his large mustache twitching occasionally. Adrien stretched out his arms one more time before shaking them out and readying himself at the white line. 

Everyone else got ready next to him, and Coach Lawerence started counting. 

“Ready...set-” 

He blew his whistle and the Course de Couleur had begun. 

-

Adrien was in the front quickly, dodging whatever paint he could. But still, paint flew all around and he was bound to get hit. It wasn’t long before he had paint sliding down his cheek and matting in his hair. 

Unfortunately, Tikki’s luck wasn’t with him, as after the second turn - his slid on some paint and landed flat on his back. His shins and shoulders felt painfully sore from the rough material of the track. 

He slowly blinked his eyes open, moving himself up so he was leaning back on his elbows. And right before him, was an angel. 

She wasn’t an actual angel, because he didn’t think that angels wore paint covered pink jeans and had ripped and doodled on gray t-shirts that read “Francoise Dupont Art”

She looked down at him, looking freakishly tall at his angle.

“Are you alright, man?” she asked, a brow raised. Adrien didn’t answer and her brow raised even higher. “Or.. are you just lying there for fun.” 

Adrien felt his ears burn and he just hoped that the rest of his face was pale as he stood up. Looking down and realizing just how covered in paint he really was. The girl was standing off to the side, on the grass. He smiled nervously.

“Uh, hi - sorry about that-” he tried to explain that he didn’t mean to make a fool of himself right in front of her, but everytime he looked at her he found something new to notice.

Her dark locks were mixed with red, except there was one bright green streak under her left ear. Her jeans were patchwork, and looked handmade - doodled on with white paint. Her arms were almost completely covered in what looked like black sharpie, same with her gray t-shirt. She wasn’t actually freakishly tall, but instead being a few inches shorter than he was. She’d probably be shorter without her bright pink boots that looked to be platforms. 

As Adrien continued to babble, she just stared at him - her cherry covered lips never curving into more than a small smile. After a moment, her eyes flickered to the side before she took a giant step back. Immediately, Adrien was slammed into and once more ended up on the ground.

He seemed to forget that the run was still going on and he was still standing on the track. 

“Oh, man - I am so sorry-” Nino apologized as he stood up, his cap askrew on his head. 

“It’s alright,” Adrien groaned - standing up as well. Nino looked over and grinned.

“Oh hey little red!” he greeted the girl, bumping fists with her. Before Adrien could ask how Nino knew the angel-girl, he was shoved back onto the track. Nino running beside him as they got pelted with more paint.

-

After the race, when Adrien’s white t-shirt was probably permanently stained, and Nino and him were walking back to Nino’s place - Adrien brought it up.

“So who’s ‘little red?’” he asked, trying to be as nonchalant as he could be. Nino looked over and shrugged. 

“Just Marinette, she’s apart of the art program at Francoise Dupont.” 

“There are different programs?” Adrien asked, his brow furrowing.

“Yeah man,” Nino laughed. “We all have to take the core classes, like math and English - but everything else is up to us.”

Adrien nodded in understanding and Nino clapped his shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll understand when school starts up tomorrow.”

Oh right, school. Tomorrow. Actual public school. 

“Oh yeah,” Adrien grinned. 

“Good last day of summer?” his friend asked. 

Adrien nodded. “Definitely.”

Pause.

“So we have English and Physics together, right?” Adrien asked, remembering their schedules that they had shared earlier that week, at the first track meeting. Adrien had met Nino then, instantly clicking. 

Nino nodded. “Yup, I know a lot of the kids in those classes, so it’ll be a fun year.”

“Is..Marinette in those classes?”

Nino looked over, his brow furrowed. “Yeah, why?” Adrien stayed silent and slowly a grin began to spread across Nino’s face. “Oooohhh, Adrien’s got his first crush.”

Adrien couldn’t help the burn that spread against his cheeks, kicking at a stone on the sidewalk. 

“Don’t worry, this year is going to be great,” Nino reassured him. 

-

And when Adrien opened the door to classroom 211 to find Marinette doodling on a piece of paper in one of the desks, he knew that Nino was right.

“Oh Adrien!!!” A familiar high-pitched voice called out.

Oh merde. 

[missmouse43]

You’re The Bee’s Knees!

Pairing: Castiel/Dean Winchester

Words: 800+

Read on AO3

AN: I quickly wrote this bit of fluff for Halloween so I apologize if it sucks lol. I just wanted to put something out there this year. And yes. I am vicariously thirsting for Dean through Cas. I regret nothing.

“Alright, sweetie. Go show Daddy.” Castiel grinned as he watched his four year old daughter, dressed head to toe in an adorable bumble bee costume, waddle out of her bedroom and into the hall in search of her other parent. Cas was eager to see his husband’s reaction and followed closely behind her, having to bite his lower lip to keep himself from chuckling at the foam stinger attached to her behind, bobbing humorously as she ran.

They found Dean in the kitchen pouring (what was left of) the Halloween candy inside a large black bowl they were planning to leave on the front porch before heading out trick-or-treating for the night. They knew the little rascals keeping the honour system of only taking a couple candies per kid was a long shot, but hey, it was their night, let them overindulge. The worst they could get was a stomach ache.

While Castiel had been enthusiastic about going the extra mile and coordinating with his daughter’s costume by wearing a ridiculous floral pattern button up shirt, Dean had gotten away with a simple grey T-shirt with the words ‘BE KIND’ printed in bold black letters on the front. He found it on the rack at some old thrift store last week while out shopping with Sam and his sister in law. Naturally, Dean had found a sharpie and drew an extra E on it. It was two sizes too big for him. Dean thought it was hilarious. Cas was willing to compromise this year around with the promise of being able to pick a full costume for Dean next year.

The second Dean laid eyes on his little girl his face completely lit up with unadulterated joy. No matter how many years they had been married, Castiel would never stop swooning over the way Dean was a complete goner for their little princess. “Wow! Look at you!” Dean exclaimed while kneeling down on the floor to be level with his daughter as she ran straight into his waiting arms.

“I’m a bumble bee!” she announced to him proudly, sporting a rosy smile filled with childlike excitement.

“Yes you are!” Dean reached out and tapped one of the black pom poms at the end of her antennas. “And you look bee-utiful.” Their daughter giggled happily and squirmed out of his arms when Dean started poking her in the stomach to get a reaction. Cas had been lingering in the background watching the interaction unfold but stepped forward when their little bee started to run around the room buzzing to entertain herself. Dean stood up and met him halfway with a kiss on the cheek. “The costume looks great, babe.”

“What about me?” Cas stuck his arms out on either side and did a little spin to show off to his now smirking husband. “How do I look?”

Dean reached out and looped an arm around Castiel’s waist, reeling him in close to his personal space. “The shirt? Hideous,” Dean concluded with a flick to the collar, causing a laugh to bubble up out of Cas. “You?” Dean pressed a soft kiss to his husband’s lips. “Gorgeous. As always.”

Cas quickly kissed him right back. “And you look very... comfortable.” Dean gave him that trademark mischievous once over of his with those beautiful green eyes that never failed to send Castiel’s mind plummeting straight into the gutter. Cas would be looking forward to tearing that XXL shirt right off of his husband’s chest, for more reasons than one.

Later.

“You got any ideas for me next year?”

“Not yet. But there’s still plenty of time,” Castiel lied, already decided on a Greaser from the 50s. Because Dean in leather? That was something Cas would very much like to see.

Reading the sly look in the arch of Castiel’s brow as plans to torment him, Dean affectionately rubbed their noses together and half-heartedly pleaded with him, “Go easy on me.”

Before Cas could steal another kiss their daughter came buzzing between their legs and Dean’s reflexes managed to reach out and scoop her up before she was able to run off again. She squealed in delight as Dean playfully spun her around in a circle with the motion before stopping and allowing Cas to readjust her costume. “What do you say we get this little bumble bee out there to get some candy, huh?” Cas asked, holding back a knowing smile at the way his daughter began to bounce up and down in her Daddy’s arms.

“Let’s do it.” Dean let their daughter back down onto the ground. “Go get your candy bag and we’ll go, okay?” Dean and Cas watched fondly as she took off running back down the hall with a skip in her step. Once they were alone Cas cupped his husband’s cheek and gazed adoringly at his face, riding high on the anticipation of another memorable family holiday.

“Happy Halloween,” he said.

Dean covered Castiel’s hand with his own. “Happy Halloween, honey. Get it? Honey.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

[lizardscuddling]

MCC Live!

Earlier this month I had the awesome opportunity to fly to London to see my favorite band, MCC. It was their first show in nearly a decade, but you couldn’t tell. Both nights the atmosphere was charged with nervous and exciting energy—both the audience and the band were more than thrilled to be there. Here’s how it went down.

Saturday night I hung out at the bar for a few hours before the show. Fans began congregating by the door about an hour beforehand so we could get a good spot. Although the ticket lady almost didn’t let me in because my tickets apparently didn’t get added to the will-call list, I managed to make it to the 2nd row on stage right: directly in front of the microphone.

Quickly after the opener ended (True Moon, who was awesome and totally worth listening to), MCC ran out and helped to set up their gear.  They were all nervous but super stoked to be out there, and as soon as Martin appeared to set up his gear pedals (idk anything about music lol) the entire audience flipped out and cheered for him. His response was to lovingly shush us; “It’s a fucking line check!”

The performance itself was amazing. After the sound check they disappeared and soon ran back out with beer in their hands and smiles on their faces. The audience had great energy; everyone was really excited to be there, and for the most part pretty engaged in the set. Martin made quite a few drunken quips throughout the show. At one point his microphone stopped working and he remarked, “I’m obviously not a singer, so we have to do a lot of things to make my voice sound good, and when tech breaks down that becomes a problem.” He introduced the band, and referred to Arvid as his “Kid brother, who hasn’t played drums since he was 6, and vowed never to pick it up again.” The job of being a frontman is obviously pretty new to him, but he took it up well.

The music itself blew my socks off. Fia Kempe from The Great Discord came out every few songs to lend her voice, and it sounded amazing. She and Martin were not afraid to get up on the barrier and play in front of the crowd, which was a real treat for us at the front. My favorite song was probably Demon King. When played live the band finishes the song with a powerful, uplifting solo. Attending a Midnight Screen was also dope, as was Sway. Honestly I can’t think of a single song that I didn’t think was amazing. The biggest surprise of the night was when MCC played “Sleepy Eye June.” Martin introduced it as “the only love song (he) ever wrote… which turned out kind of dark.” They recorded it on a three piece demo, he said, and the final version will be appearing on their next album, due “2027.” That was an amazing surprise to end the night on—they even kept the voice sample from “Excalibur!”

Shortly after the show I had to run outside to grab money for merch. By the time I came back the band was hanging out at the stage signing things for fans. I first went up to Fia, who was chillin’ and told her how much I appreciate her work. Soon after I made my way to Martin, where I overheard him ask a fan, “was my set too short? I was worried about that, but I was thinking ‘if it were me, I wouldn’t want to hear myself perform for very long. Just in and out.’” Another fan urged him to go to France, and he replied that they had plans to—but they’re secret, so he can’t disclose more than that. I later heard from another fan that MCC plans to tour more in Europe later this year and, hopefully eventually, North America. When it came time for me to get my stuff signed I Introduced myself and told him I was from Seattle. He said that was cool and he loves Seattle; he also really loves Oregon, because of the Goonies.

Eventually I made it outside and hung out with some fans. I found Niels standing at a doorway and joined in on the conversation. Someone asked him if he’s going to continue playing with In Flames, and he replied that he wasn’t sure. It can be fun playing on a huge stage, he remarked, but he prefers the vibes of smaller venues. He’d like to continue playing with MCC, if he can. I told him I really liked his music, his solo stuff too, and was super stoked to see him—especially, being from Seattle, I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to. He told me he thought Seattle was awesome, and that when he came there with Dead Soul and Ghost their friend from the area drove them around the city and he fell in love. He’d like to return one day. I asked him to sign my poster, and he pointed to a random building in the design, remarked “that’s where I live,” drew an arrow to it, and signed it. At that point another fan asked him to sign his ticket, but he kept talking to me—he poked me with their ticket!—and told me to listen to listen to an American band he likes (sorry Niels I was too drunk I totally forgot who it was). He traveled from Sweden to London to see them when he was young, and asked the band manager if he could meet the singer. He was told no, but got tickets to see them in Sweden. The singer killed himself right after that show. I probably looked at him like “wtf?” and he assured me that he isn’t planning on killing himself. Good!

             The vibes of the first night were really mellow. Martin hung out outside and smoked but the fans left him alone; a surprising show of respect.

~round 2~

             Night two was even better! The band seemed way less nervous and more sober-- Martin even remarked to the audience, “you seem less drunk than last night. So are we.” Their sobriety was reflected in a much better sound overall. The audience, while less smashed, was still awesome. During a lull in the set a man with a thick Scottish accent remarked “Martin, I fucking love you man!” to which he replied, “I love you too!” Near the end of the set Martin’s announcement that they had one more song to play was met with an “aaaawwwwuuuuuhhhh.” He reminded everyone they’d be back. I yelled, “I’ll miss you!” and he said, “I’ll miss you too!!” It was really sweet and I literally died. At a certain point he invited fans to yell out where they were from. At the end he remarked, “you’re from all over the place! We’re from ten years ago.”

Niels was over the top all night. He started the show by standing on the barrier for a long ass time. After Dollhouse Decoration Niels wouldn’t stop playing the end notes, to which Martin remarked, “that’s Niels Nielsen for you everyone!” During the Sway solo he couldn’t get his pedal to work so he performed the entire thing on the ground, which was pretty cool. Martin kept looking over at him with a smile on his face; you could tell they’re real homies. At the end of the set when Martin was introducing Sleepy Eye June as a love song he wrote, Niels started to play the beginning of “Run To The Hills” by Iron Maiden, and Arvid helped out with the drums. Martin was like “wtf” but it was all in jest.

Soon after the set the band had to kick everyone out to close up shop. I waited around for a big and talked to some cool homies; eventually, the band all came out to talk to fans and sign stuff. Niels recognized me from the night before and asked how I was doing—I told him I was chillin, but it looks like he was going to have a fun night (he was holding a big bottle of wine and some water). Niels told me the water was just for looks, the wine is what he’s really there for. I vibe with that.

Arvid and Par were both really sweet. They genuinely tried to have conversation with all their fans. When I told Arvid I was from Seattle he remarked “Oh! You’re the person he told us about.” (which honestly holy shit that was really cool. Martin told him about a fan from Seattle??? Whaaat??) and wanted to know what it was like to live in my city. Apparently, Martin is always talking about how much he likes the Pacific Northwest and wants to visit. I told them the weed was great. They were really really nice and attentive, and I’m super stoked to see them in future shows.

When I walked up to Martin he was signing some ghost photos for some fans. He looked at an old picture of himself and remarked “Aaaahhh… that’s him, the infamous Omeega.” It was kind of sad watching him look through all these old photos of Ghost, but he seemed to enjoy it. He pointed out which shows he could remember, and his tone was nostalgic. A fan offered him some beer which he declined until the fan told him it was Polish beer; at that point his choice was to chug it. He tried his best to make quips in fans’ native languages to watch them laugh. He’s a pure bean.

When it was my turn I told him, “when I saw you last night I forgot to show you my tattoo!” and stuck my arm out for him. He replied “whoa, let me take a look at that,” and grabbed my arm. I can’t explain it any other way than he held my arm and felt my tattoo with his fingers for a bit. I kind of astral projected through the entire thing; it was surreal. He soon grabbed a sharpie and drew a smiley face into the eclipse. I’m glad he thought it was impressive! He signed my ticket and patch and gave me a hug. Martin’s a super chill dude and was really enamored by all the attention he was getting from fans.

Overall, starting this trip I didn’t know what to expect, but MCC blew me away. They’re all a great group of people and I really look forward to seeing where they go in the future.

[fanatic-writers]

Ink and Grease

A/n: So this is a play on the soulmate AU where you write on your skin, and it shows up on your soulmate’s skin too. Basically any little mark or dirt or whatever can appear on your soulmate’s skin. I had another way I wanted this to go it kinda deviated from my original idea, so I hope you still like it. Requests are open, and we don’t have any atm so don’t be afraid to send some in! -G

Warnings: I still can’t fluff

Pairing: Tony x reader

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You were a child when it started, you’d notice grease on your skin and dirt under your nails. You were too young to know what was going on but when you asked your parents, they told you not to worry about it. You were always asked by your teachers what you had gotten into and to wash your hands. When you turned 13, you and your friends decided to research what exactly was wrong with you when you found a book on soulmates. Your friend explained to you that some people had special connections and that due to said connection marks on your skin would show up on your soulmate’s and vice versa.

“Damn you’re lucky” one of your friends, Jane, commented as you looked at the small burn that had appeared on your skin the other day

“Are you kidding that is, like, the worst thing ever,” Leah exclaimed, “now she has to get married and like, have kids!”

“I’m sure he’s great,” Mads commented

“Whoever he is he needs to learn what soap is,” you joked.

“Maybe it’s time for a little revenge,” Jane smirked pulling out a sharpie

“Oh you’re evil,” you giggled as the girls drew all over your body. Some doodles were good, like the amazing portrait of Yoda that took over your shoulder. Others were crudely drawn dicks in various places or innuendos.

Little did you know that the poor boy that was fortunate enough to be your soulmate had a very important meeting at MIT the next day to see if he could get into the school early. Tony walked into the living room in search of his mother, there was no way that Howard would take this well. Unfortunately for him both of his parents were sat at the table eating breakfast.

“What the hell is all over your skin!’ he father yelled “Do you know how important this meeting is? Are you trying to ruin your life?”

“I swear I have no idea how this happened,” the boy tried to explain “I went to bed and when I woke up they were just there.”

Howard looked at his son in disbelief as his wife looked at him “Maybe he has a soulmate?”

“You know how rare that is,” Howard said looking down at her

“Well it happened to us,” she shrugged

“Wash up as best you can and put on a nice suit or something to cover that up,” The boy’s father sighed “we’ll figure out something for whatever is on your hands.”

Tony walked down the stairs in his best suit hoping that it would compensate for the doodles covering his hands.

His mother held out a bottle of concealer “This should do the trick” she smiled as she blotted it to his skin. Tony just hoped it would hold up long enough.

He must’ve done something right because here he was a few weeks later at MIT a new sleeve of doodles covering his forearms. His parents had explained to him that he had a soulmate which meant somewhere in the world some girl was lucky enough to call him hers. It wasn’t long before he was trying to flirt with you, writing little messages on his arm and waiting for a response. It was a few weeks before you responded with a simple “Fuck off” scrolled in beautiful calligraphy.

---

It had been a few years since you discovered your soulmate and even though at first he seemed like an ass he grew on you. You had been writing notes to each other almost every day. You would try to find out as much about each other as you could without breaking whatever rules there were. For some reason, the universe had decided that you weren’t able to tell each other your names or whereabouts so you’d drop as many hints as you could. It wasn’t long before you were getting questions from your fellow classmates as to why there were notes written all over your arms. At first, you would tell them that you had a soulmate and while some would call you crazy or tell you that you were lucky most grew jealous. And that made high school a living hell for you. Somewhere along the way instead of you thinking that you had something special you became to think of yourself as a burden.

“You only have a soulmate because you’d never attract a guy on your own,” one of the boys told you

“Poor guy is stuck with you now,” his friend called as they waited for the bell to ring

“Dude, kick his ass,” the third boy in the group muttered to you noticing how on edge you were

“I would,” you paused “but someone as pathetic as him isn’t really worth my time.”

“Oh yeah,” the second boy said, “Well, I don’t even know you!”

You had to hold in your laughter till the bell rang and you exited your class with Leah. After that, you figured it’d be best to keep your predicament a secret.

---

Years had gone by, and for some reason, your soulmate had stopped writing you little notes, you hadn’t really thought anything of it. At first, it worried you, but you noticed the grease marks that appeared on your hands still and knew that he was ok, maybe he wanted to keep it a secret too. You had managed to get yourself a degree and further your education at an academy for an agency called SHIELD. You hadn’t heard of them before they approached you for their academy. Apparently, your research had caught their eye. You had gone through years of your life and thousands of milestones and not one moment had you thought of your soulmate. It’s not like they had seemed to think of you with the lack of letters written on your arm.

It wasn’t until you had been recruited to work in the lab for the Avengers that you began to think of the mystery man again. You noticed that as you’d jot down notes on your hands, you’d see little doodles around them that you hadn’t drawn.

“What are you doing?” Bruce had asked you as he watched you doodle on your forearm

“Nothing’ you replied continuing to scroll out a “hey” on your arm in the fanciest font you could think of

“Doesn’t look like nothing,” your friend said watching you “you have a soulmate don’t you?”

“Maybe,” you smirked, “don’t tell anyone though, I don’t need people to hate me.”

“And you trust me with this information why?” he asked

“Because you’re too nice to hate me,” you responded, “besides you’d have to deal with Tony on your own if you did.”

“Speak of the devil,” Bruce muttered as Tony waltzed through the door in a long sleeved tee.

“You look happy,” you commented, “how much alcohol have you consumed this fine morning?”

“None thank you very much,” the man shot back “I just got a very important letter from a very important person regarding some very important things.”

“Care to share with the rest of the class?” you asked raising your brows

“Nope,” Tony said turning to Bruce “we’re going to lunch I need to talk to you.”

“But science?” Bruce attempted to argue

“Your work can wait this is important.” and with that Tony was dragging the man out of the lab.

---

“See,” Tony said pulling up his sleeve excitedly

“I see,” Bruce said hiding a smile the word 'hey' was written out beautifully on his friend's forearm, just like the one you were drawing back at the lab.

“She hasn’t written to me in ages,” Tony said smiling at his arm “what do I say back?”

“Why not a simple hi?” his friend replied

“Hi?’ Tony questioned “Hi. This is why you don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Then why did you come to me?” Bruce asked

“Because you’re my bro” Tony smiled

Bruce sighed “Just talk to her. Say anything if she’s your soulmate does it really matter?”

“Of course it matters” Tony rolled his eyes

“She was pretty much born to love you, Tony. She’s dealt with you this long I’m sure you could say anything to her, and she’d be happy to write back.” Bruce assured him

“Fine,” Tony said taking out a pen and writing out a measly ‘hi.’

‘What are you up to’ she wrote back

‘Lunch with a friend’ he replied

‘I could use some food lol’ her handwriting seemed familiar, but he dismissed his thoughts, he had been writing to her since she was a teen so of course, he recognized the writing

‘I’d bring you some, but I still have no idea who you are’ he wrote down

“Really,” Bruce commented

“I thought you said it didn't matter what I wrote,” Tony exclaimed as his friend rolled his eyes

‘I’d tell you if I could’ she replied ‘these rules are stupid how are we ever supposed to meet if we can’t even set up a date.’

Tony chuckled ‘the world is cruel.’

‘You can say that again.’

---

You were clutching your hand when Tony walked back into the lab after lunch.

“What’d you do this time?” Bruce asked going over to examine your hand

“It’s just a small burn,” you said

“Huh, Tony come here,” Bruce commented “look at this,”

“Looks like a burn,” Tony said casually

“Looks like your burn,” Bruce said

“I don’t-” Tony paused noticing a small burn forming on his finger “you’re-we’re.”

“Soulmates?” you looked up at Tony pulling up your sleeve as he did the same. The conversation from earlier was still present on both of your arms

Tony looked at Bruce “how in the hell did you know before I did?”

“I saw her writing on her arm,” Bruce shrugged “good thing Y/n already likes you.”

You’re face flushed “I do not,” you said “I mean- I- I hate you” you scowled at Bruce

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A/n: I hope you guys liked it, sorry I haven’t been posting as much lately. School is starting soon, and work has been hell. Love you all -G

[maychild]

CAPTURE LOVER #冰糖陷阱 eps 1-3 review/recap

So, Capture Lover aka China’s first BL drama since Addicted has started airing. So far eps 1-3 are already up on the site/app: https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/home (and will be available on viki too later this month--July, I mean, but i couldn’t wait and signed up for a GagaOOLaLa account, but the first ep is free on the GagaOOLaLa app and honestly it’s not too expensive--about 6.99USD for the rest of the episodes.)

One thing I wish is that this series had a bigger budget than it did, but, honestly, considering all the obstacles in TPTB’s way in *even* getting this much produced, I’m still excited to watch it and support it. (Like we know Taiwanese/Chinese dramas can all be very High Quality, and it makes me sad that CL had such a low budget to work with...so  just something to consider if or when ppl start watching this drama and complain about the quality...)

but let’s talk about the characters:

DING JUNJIE is the manager (at 25, apparently). a calm hard-worker. honestly, he comes off as one of those super up-tight, perfectionist a*holes. but he’s also extremely handsome, and loyal to fault. 

YING JIAMING is...look, he just wants to nap all the time. WHY WONT ANYONE LEAVE HIM ALONE TO SLEEP??? he’s always super tired, copies whole projects from the internet (loll), and generally has a very bad work ethic that Junjie wonders why HR hired him at all...(bc Jiaming’s the Chairman’s son and he’ll take over the company someday loll) 

Junjie’s & Jiaming’s relationship here at the very beginning is adversarial--Junjie is no-nonsense, serious, prim & proper, and Jiaming is of course the very opposite--he doesn’t take work seriously, just wants to nap and play videogames all day, and pranks Junjie. He shrugs off even the threat of bankruptcy. A very delicious beginning of the “enemies to lovers” trope. 

then there’s Manager Leng:

Manager Leng is Junjie’s boss--she ends up making him redo his work when she finds some mistakes. And by ep. 2 she’s gone, which makes me sad (i hope they at least transferred her to another good department..)

Because of Jiaming plagiarising stuff off the internet, Junjie forces Jiaming to work with him later that night, locking the door to his office so Jiaming won’t be able to escape (loolll cant Jiaming just unlock the door himself??) Jiaming tries to get a bathroom break, but Junjie just gives him a water bottle (ewwwww, so many things wrong with that, I sincerely hope it’s a joke...). Then he says he’s hungry, and Junjie offers him instant noodles he prepared, but Jiaming wants seafood. They bicker some more, and get in each other’s faces--like extremelyyyy close to each other. 

poor bb looks so overworked.

Junjie’s very depressing office--he does have a potted plant, but it’s in the corner, and I wonder why they cover up the one window he has.

Jiaming attempts to apologize for all his mistakes by bringing Junjie a drink of water. BUT THEN tells him it’s from the toilet, oh that child. (I mean...it’s not really from the toilet as Jiaming takes a sip himself, but considering how much teasing & joking around Jiaming does, is it any wonder Junjie can’t figure out when Jiaming is being earnest or not?? I sure as hell can’t.)

if ur boss finds u sleeping on company-hours, he will take a sharpie to your face

EP. 1 was pretty good in developing Junjie’s & Jiaming’s dynamic. And, I’ll be honest, the thing that drew me in...of course, there are a myriad of things that could be better with this series, but for the budget they’re working with, I’m not expecting a masterpiece.  

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EP. 2 THO is when things get really going--for one, Jiaming replaces Manager Leng as head of the company! And his attire makes me think he copied Junjie’s style--Junjie isn’t the only one who works in a suit (upper management are the only ones in business attire, while the underlinings seem to be allowed in casual wear), but lemme me think it’s bc of Junjie anyways.  

Junjie though is NOT at all impressed by this turn of events. 

After the meeting, these three voice their disbelief at the change in personnel, having doubts about why Jiaming is now head of the company considering how bad of an employee he was.

THEN this exchange happens wherein Jiaming vows to teach Junjie some “lessons” too...

they end up staring into each other’s eyes a lot considering they don’t like each other that much yet.

Jiang Zhihao comes by wondering what Junjie is doing working late again, and Junjie says to ask Ying Jiaming. Zhihao is astonished that Ying Jiaming  is making Junjie work on his birthday, and advises Junjie to complain to the Chairman about his son. Though Junjie wonders when a lowly worker such as himself would even get a chance to meet the Chairman.

Jiaming also comes by with dinner--not being able to leave Junjie alone since he’s working late. 

(these dumplings look soooo good.)

One of them is working hard and the other is stuffing his face lol (i mean jiaming did offer his food to the workaholic, but the workaholic refused the free food...)

Jiaming finds out that it’s Junjie‘s birthday and runs out to buy a cake. And that’s the end of the second episode.

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EP. 3 starts with Jiaming waiting for the cake at the bakery. And of course he rushes the poor pastry lady. 

BUT he finds he was too late because, a lady--Meng Yao, aka Junjie’s only female friend--beats him to Junjie’s office with her own cake, and asks Junjie to make a wish. I find this so adorable. Meng Yao is super pretty and cute though.

While he’s thinking of what to wish for, Jiaming literally rushes into the room--sees the cake on the table, and tries to scold Junjie for not working. Hahahahaha. Now he acts like the cold, harsh boss that he isn’t.

Junjie walks Meng Yao home, and it’s obvious that she feels something for him as she hugs him and asks him not to push her away. She admits that she has been with him ever since elementary school, and i’m like, lady, that is utter devotion right there. 

Though she says she’s tired (presumably of this utter devotion), she hopes he’ll allow her to love him for a few more years. (Like, whuuuut?? Meng Yao is also utterly loyal, and I wish she could move on.)

Junjie gets home, and his mother fusses over him. Initially, he refuses her food--saying he had some cake that Meng Yao brought over at the office, and of course Mama Ding starts singing Meng Yao’s praises. 

Mama Ding also tries to snoop around some and figure out if there’s anything going on between them, but Junjie is pretty firm that they’re just good friends, and you can tell he hates disappointing both his mother & Meng Yao. 

(“I don’t have plans to fall in love yet” hahahahaha famous last words, dear Junjie.)

Junjie is a good son, working so hard so his mother isn’t the one suffering, and I like his mom (what we’ve seen of her so far), but she’s also pretty much counting on Junjie marrying a girl & having children, so I wonder if she’s going to be a roadblock to Junjie’s & Jiaming’s relationship later on. Or at least one of them...

As Junjie eats his mother’s dumplings that she prepared for his birthday, he flashes back to Jiaming’s offerings of his own dumplings in the office. 

The next morning Junjie gets to work and finds Jiaming’s cake on his desk with a post-it note wishing him happy birthday. Awww. It’s sweet, and the adorablest. Until we see the cake, that is. 

.

.

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Yeppp, that is a cake with a giant penis. But it makes Junjie smile the cutest smile. (Dare we think he likes all the joking and pranks that Jiaming pulls on him???)

While Junjie’s smirking to himself in his office, a commotion outside draws his attention--Zhang Fengxia has arrived with her two bodyguards (she’s Jiaming’s ex-girlfriend), and is trying to push her way into the office, but the office workers can’t allow her admittance.

Zhang Fengxia yells for Ying Jiaming, but Junjie informs her he’s not at work yet.

Zhang Fengxia (aka “please call me Lucy. Lucy Zhang”) asks who he is that he would know when Jiaming gets into work or not (which is also what I was thinking, NGL, seeing as Junjie isn’t his boss anymore).

Ying Jiaming announces behind everyone that Junjie is his boyfriend (!!!!!) and this is the start of them fake-dating to keep Zhang Fengxia away, lolll.

While Jiaming tries to beg Junjie for his help, the three underlinings have a gross conversation about this romantic development being a dream come true for the female office workers. AND then this guy opens his mouth. (We don’t know any of the underlinings’ names yet, so he’ll just be “this guy” for now.) I know there’s a serious problem of gay fetishization that needs to be addressed, but 15-20 min dramas usually don’t address them beyond making cringy characters, so like what’s the point?? And it should go without saying that writing gay fiction about your co-workers is gross and not okay! *hands*

But then we get to the skinship. They look so cozy while cuddling together. 😅

This does the trick though! And Lucy dramatically exits, saying how heartbroken she is, and Jiang Zhihao is left utterly baffled as well. 

And that’s the end of ep. 3. (also, junjie runs away, almost gagging, i guess?? but i hope it’s just him pretending he’s grossed out because, otherwise...)

And eps. 4-6 will be aired next thursday! so see u then, i hope!

[jess-oh]

Reflection

“But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear, nor be troubled but in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy. Always being ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for the hope that is in you; yet do this with gentleness and respect. So that, when others slander you and revile your good behavior in Christ, you may put them to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” - 1 Peter 3:14-17

Actual passage ESV:

14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

I’m getting closer! I’m still processing the lock-in I think but I have a much brighter view of the future. I’m learning a lot about myself and God and how to best serve the Kingdom. I actually went to bed last night before midnight and I was pretty dang proud of myself. I woke up fairly early today, took a shower, and headed to Jason’s car outside of the Dwight with Angela and Dana. When we got to church, I immediately made a B-line for the kitchen in order to do the dishes that we failed to do last night. I do think a part of me was expecting the ahjummas to thank me for doing both our dishes and their while I was doing them but they didn’t say anything at all. These feeling were soon dispersed when I was finishing up, Pastor Josh rushed in, and they started scolding him. And I felt so bad. I almost wanted to cry because I felt so bad. And I tried explaining to him that it was my fault and when he tried to reassure me that it was fine bc we were all tired anyway, I revealed that I did remember and try to do it but Pastor William stopped me and told me to join the other college students but honestly, I wasn’t even really hungry and while I am glad that I got to share my experience with everyone, I wish i didn’t. I wish Pastor Josh didn’t have to take the fall for my mistakes. And I could blame it on the rest of my team but ultimately, the cooking committee was my responsibility and I have to take ownership of that and Pastor Josh didn’t do anything wrong. I hope it didn’t sound like I was blaming Pastor William for making me leave because I wasn’t. I was blaming myself for not just doing it when I had the chance. So when I did finish up, I rushed into the main sanctuary for service and in a moment, I decided to sit by myself instead of with the other college students. I just kind of wanted time to myself. I later realized that Jason was sitting pretty close to me when we made eye contact during the service but I did my best not to think about him. I only looked toward him maybe three times but did my best to stay vigilant and focus on the sermon and my notes. And it was a great decision. I prayed and recentered my heart around God and when we were encouraged to speak to our neighbors, I rushed over to the guy in front of me to say it and he laughed and smiled at my enthusiasm. It was nice. I wanted to ask him for his name after the service but he left pretty fast. I’m guessing he had some things to do. I keep complaining about how I don’t have a lot of opportunities to talk to other people in the church bc I’m restricted to Movement but that’s just not true. Because I was sitting more towards the back today, I got to the cafeteria faster and thus, was the first to sit. I assumed other people would eventually join me but when other people outside of the college ministry decided to sit with my instead, I didn’t reject them. The first was a boy I smiled at. His name is John and he’s in 7th grade. He went to 8 churches before Lakeview due to bullying and when I pressed him for information, he didn’t want to talk about it which is understandable. He soon left, probably to find his friends and to get rid of the uncomfortable atmosphere. The next girl that sat next to me nervously approached my table before I invited her to sit. I actually don’t remember her name. I think it started with an “M” but she’s 26(?) years old and from Columbia. She came to Chicago to study on a foreign exchange program and recently graduated. She’s been here for about 8 months so she has 4 months left and it was just really nice getting to talk to her. Then Dana saw me and joined and listened in on the conversation as well. The next man to sit was Mike. He’s definitely a dad and appreciated my spaghetti regretti shirt. He has a daughter named Myra(?) and she was so cute and he talked about how his humor has gotten a lot cheesier since becoming a dad. Then Jason and P. Josh joined me for lunch and questioned why I was sitting where I was and I simply said, “Why not?” and they joined me and it was so nice to be with a few familiar faces. We all engaged into our own separate conversations from and it really felt like we were the church instead of being at church. I saw John pass by and felt bad that his seat got taken by Jason but he simply walked away. I’m hoping to find him again next Sunday or via social media and reach out to him and get to know him on a deeper level and really share God’s heart and love with him. Jason and I then faded out so that we could work on reimbursements and ran into Esther on the way. It was pretty lighthearted and Jason seemed to be in a much better mood today than yesterday. Oh, on the way to church today, I asked him and Angela about what they plan on doing post-lockin and how they’re going to utilize what they’ve learned. Jason said something along the lines of really loving others and didn’t want to go into detail so I’m assuming it’s something personal and didn’t want to push him into it too much. I later asked Angela and she said that it’s really hard for her to love others, especially when they’ve wronged her in the past, but she wants to work on learning to love and make active efforts towards that. But back to post service! So Jason and I did reimbursements and then we headed back to the MPR to sit with everyone again. He became to mother pigeon as little kids swarmed him for candy. Eunice and I helped out too and I did feel a bit out of place but it was nice to see all their faces and how happy they looked. Then we bumped into one of the ladies from the panel yesterday and introduced ourselves and when she asked Eunice for her skills, I mentioned how she’s a dancer and Eunice got super embarrassed and lightly pushed me. Once the lady started pressing us to become teachers for the electives, I playfully said that I realized why Eunice didn’t want me to say anything and started “running away.” Once they started talking about VBS and Eunice mentioned how she’ll be back home for the summer, I jumped in and talked about how I’ll be here and how much I love VBS and body worship. Tbh, I didn’t really want to talk to her bc she was really in the answers she gave yesterday. I’m pretty sure she knows that I’m the one that asked about 2/3 relationship questions, lol. I wonder how her perception of me will change after she does. But she mentioned how I’m an answer to her prayers and we talked about exactly what my job would entail and how I could best serve and what she needed me to do. Once she found out what school I went to, she talked about how this game named Chris Helzenga(?) is teaching a class and encouraged students to study three nonprofits and I asked her for more information bc I’m actually really interested in the nonprofit world and want to get more involved with it. She also asked about how our discussion later went and I mentioned how a lot of people related to Elder Jisu’s story about forgiveness and how we all have some burden and weight within our own hearts and realized that we needed to let go of it. Which was true. About three people related to it and a lot more got involved with the conversation. I think it was a totally valid statement. After that, I decided to sit down and play with the kids some more. When I saw a group of girls playing with the balloons, I asked to see one of the faces and complimented her skills. And then I turned it and it said, “I hate you” and when I asked why, she said because they were going to pop the balloon outside. As soon as I saw a blank balloon, I whipped out my sharpie and drew a sad face since they were going to destroy it and they excitedly asked me to draw a different face on each of their balloons. Eventually, they just took the sharpie away from me and went crazy with it but I didn’t mind. I let them be. I thought about scolding them but no one was actually getting hurt so I assumed it was fine. When I saw Angela and knew it was time to leave, I started asking for my sharpie back. Then I found out we couldn’t find Jason so I just rejoined my old table. Only Mike and P. Josh remained and were in a pretty intense conversation so I just sat in my old seat, looked at my phone, and waited until we found Jason and it was time to leave. He had been working on encouragement notes for everyone. I guess they’re due next week and I’m thinking of rewriting a few bc they were pretty lame in the moment. I’m excited to see what he writes for me. We’ve been getting a lot closer this semester so I want to know how his perception of me has changed. 

Now onto the ride home!

It was pretty quiet at first but I didn’t mind. I just zoned out for a while. Then I started talking to Claire about homework and graphic design related things and future careers and travels. While we talked, I heard Angela and Jason start talking and I was lowkey really interested in what they were saying so I listened in but I also felt bad for not paying attention to Claire and she could obviously tell so I did my best to come back to my conversation with her. It was actually really interesting and I did enjoy talking to Claire about everything. I talked about how I want to work with nonprofits in the future since no one is there for the money and it is still a livable salary and how I don’t need that much money to be happy. She tried to interrupt me a few times but eventually I got my point across and she understood. We talked a bit about personality types and how Claire and Angela are both an INFJ while I’m an INTJ and mentioned how obviously, some personality types may be better in some circumstances. Like an ISTJ would probably hate being a counselor. But overall, since she’s an advocate, she can still use her personality type to her advantage. She can better reason with her clients which was interesting to her. I’m excited to see her again on Friday for life group and I’m hoping that Dana can come too. 

When I got home, it was only 2pm and I was still in a good mood and could have done homework but I decided to catch up on a few shows instead and then I took a nap for a bit. Then I ate subway, did my laundry, caught up with Emily, and now I’m here in the lobby, ready to do my homework. Kind of. Loren wants to talk to me so I’m gonna do that and I am excited to share my experience at the lock in with her and encourage her to go to church in order to have that relationship with Christ and not for the sake of going to church. 

Oh, before I end this. We sang “Lay Me Down” and I felt the joy of the Lord and it’s playing on my Spotify now and it’s just so encouraging!!!

I’m so excited for what this year will bring. 

And finally, I’m still trying to assess where my relationship with Andrew is right now. Last night, I muted our chat with him and Sofia. I did snapchat him today to keep up our streak but I don’t think we’ll be talking for a few days. We’ll see if he messages me and what he says and we’ll see if I respond from there. I don’t know if he’ll think I’m mad at him or if I’m just busy. He’s probably just gonna think I’m busy but... we’ll see how long it takes until he realizes that something else is wrong. And even right now, I don’t know what to do. I do still think I want to ask Jason about what I should do. Since he’s a Vietnamese boy that was kind of a Buddhist but not really and that’s how Andrew is too. And I want to know how to best reach out to Andrew and bring him to Christ. For his own sake and not my own. I would love to keep him as a friend but I do really crave friendships where I feel like I can really tell them anything. Including my beliefs. So, we’ll see how it goes from here.