#we’ve basically put them in a rom com it’s ridiculous

[weirdcursedvaultkid]

Alex nooo don’t crush on ur bestie Rey nooooooo 😔😔😔

@cursedcrusaders and I have been shipping our mcs like crazy lately so I had to draw them lol

[scribble-blog]

Soulmate AU part 3!!

First • Previous • Here • Next

Side note, I’m a grandma in a 22 year old body who doesn’t understand technology. If somebody can teach me how to get readmores to work on tumblr mobile, and possibly how to start linking the posts together, I’d appreciate it!

Also, the taglist is now full! Though if people want, I could try doing a supplemental taglist? Either in a reblogged or in a separate post to notify you? Let me know in the replies!

Damian Wayne, as it turns out, is almost very certainly the son of Bruce Wayne, who sponsored their entire trip to Gotham. There are only two official pictures of him that are clear enough to truly check against, but Marinette sees the eyes and she nods. “That’s him.”

Trixx, Pollen, Kaalki, and Plagg are scattered about the bed, napping and lounging. Adrien also lounges, catlike and crosswise with the bed, entirely over the pillows at their back. Chloé holds the laptop that Marinette is hovering over, even from her seated position with her much smaller stature.

“It would be you,” Chloé snorts. “Oh, let’s just traipse over to America for a quick class visit! Oops, my soulmate is the incredibly handsome son of the incredibly wealthy man who invited us here!”

“Still more believable than you, Miss ‘My soulmate and I have literally been standing two feet from each other for weeks because not only do we have the exact same friends, but we’re part of the same superhero group and never realized until Ladybug allowed us to learn each other’s secret identities.’” Adrien doesn’t move as he calls her out, lazily curled into the warmth of his two friends and the pillows cocooning him.

“I don’t think any of us can speak,” Marinette groans. “I’m living a cheap rom com, Chloé’s got all the plot elements of a high budget Shakespearian drama, and Mr. ‘Didn’t know I wasn’t straight until my soulmate mark was a guys name” is straight out of a b movie comedy.”

“At least I got my act together pretty quickly once it occurred to me that I could like guys too,” Adrien points out. “And now Jon and I talk all the time, and he even comes to Paris sometimes to see me, or we’ll meet up for my occasional business trips in America. Which reminds me,” he pulled out his phone, sending off a quick text, “he wants to come meet you guys. Next week, while we’re all actually on the same continent.”

“Kudos to you for shaking off whatever Gabe tried to stuff your head full of,” Chloé says. “Took me ages to admit that I was gay, and that was even WITH my soulmark and both Marinette and Ladybug constantly in front of me.”

“Feeling pretty objectified,” Marinette protests.

“Oh shut it, I know for a fact that you’ve basically been the gay awakening crush of every not straight girl in our class. And several outside of it. And that’s not even counting all the dudes that fall in love with you.”

“I still object,” Marinette pouts at Chloé.

“Objection overruled.” Adrien sits up. “Marinette. You’re like, the perfect crush. They have a warning about you in the introductory packet for Mme. Bustier’s class.”

“They do not,” Marinette gasps, outraged. “I wrote that packet!”

“And then the class unanimously decided you were too dangerous to be walking around without a warning sign,” Chloé pinched her cheek. “If it makes you feel any better, it’s still in the packet despite Lila’s best efforts to get it thrown out.”

That does make Marinette feel better.

“Damian Wayne resurfaces after year of being believed dead,” Adrien reads from his phone. “Gotham’s Newest Wayne: The True Son! These all read like tabloids but as far as I can tell the Wayne’s don’t tolerate stuff like that. So I guess it’s true?”

“I’m tired of looking him up,” Marinette groans. “Can we just leave it be?”

“Nope,” Chloé pops the P. “Congrats, Dupain-Cheng, this is what friends are for.”

“I wish I could talk to Tikki about it,” Marinette sighs. “Especially because I have literally never heard anyone talk about that- electric feeling when we touched. Is it a Ladybug thing?”

Plagg opens one big green eye. “Cool it, Spots. It’s definitely a Ladybug thing. You’re literally the reason these marks exist.”

Marinette sticks her tongue out at the mini god. “I just miss her.”

“Join the club,” he grumbles, closing his eye and going back to napping.

“Good news,” Chloé says, bringing her attention back to the laptop. “Searching your name very easily leads to you, and our class, and the fact that we won the contest. So, unless he decides he’s not ready to meet you, you’ll have the chance to find him at the gala. Or at Wayne Enterprises. Or at any of the places the Wayne’s own, which is two-thirds of our trip destinations.”

“Oh god,” Marinette says. “What if he didn’t want to find me?”

Adrien, Chloé, and four Kwamis hit her at the same time, shoving her back into the bed.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Mari,” Adrien scolds her from his position atop the newly formed cuddle pile. “I saw his face too. If the boy isn’t already in love with you, he’ll be hunting you down just for the chance to fall.”

Trixx nuzzled into her side. “I may not be Tikki but all of us Kwamis know how incredible you are, Marinette.”

She sighed. “Alright guys, get off.”

———

Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Tim already knew who the girl was, because he’d been curious when his favorite artist had started talking about the source of his newest looks.

But having Damian demand his help in searching for everything he could find on her, and then only asking for the bare minimum of information about her trip itinerary- Tim wasn’t an idiot.

“So. She’s your soulmate.” Tim takes a sip of the coffee he’d been working on, making a face and instantly setting it back down when he realized it had gone cold.

Damian carefully did not change his expression, but it wasn’t fooling anyone. “And so what if she is?”

Tim looked back at the monitor. “So nothing. Congrats, Demon Spawn. I’m happy for you.”

He barely caught the edge of the scowl the younger Wayne tried to hide.

“Hey, no.” Tim spun his chair to face Damian. “Look, we’ve had our differences and disagreements-“

“You had me on the superhero equivalent of a terrorism watch list,” Damian interrupted.

“And you literally tried to kill me within the first day of meeting me.”

“A byproduct of my indoctrination from birth into a murder cult,” His brother kept his face still but the tone was wry.

“You kept trying to kill me.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill you!” Damian finally exclaimed, losing his collected demeanor. “Just-“

“Point being,” Tim stressed, “even if we haven’t always gotten along- haven’t ever, really- I’m still happy for you. Soulmates are a special thing. We all kind of thought you might not have one, with the way you always acted when Dick tried to ask.”

Damian forced down the immediate retort and looked at Tim. “I thought that maybe my dying would have prevented my name from showing up for them. And my teachings-“ he said the word with the inflection that meant he was discussing Assassin Upbringing rather than here- “were as such that most connections, be they familial, friendly, or romantic, were- unnecessary and even dangerous.” It felt tantamount to a betrayal of his younger self to confide anything in Drake like this, but... Damian really was, in many ways, a better and more mature person than the spoiled, aggressive, near sociopathic brat he’d arrived as seven years ago. He still kept the veneer of it up, but he was no longer the boy who needed to fight Drake to prove his worth as Bruce’s son.

Now he just waited for Drake to embarrass himself by passing out after staying up for far too long surviving on caffeine and energy drinks. Much easier.

And Drake didn’t ever seem as eager to blackmail and fight as Damian ever had, so he figured a small amount of vulnerability was a proper thank you for his discretion in finding Marinette.

Tim just took another grimacing sip of the cold coffee. “Man. In that case, even happier for you that you’re shrugging off yet another of the Child Assassin School’s upsetting and frankly terrible rules. Though as for the dying thing, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t actively die now that you have the mark.”

Damian shrugged. “Irrelevant now, as I will not be dying anytime soon, and neither will she. And she clearly knows that we’re soulmates.”

“Still confused about that,” Tim frowned, looking back at him. “You said there was an electric current between you? Or it felt like that?”

Damian couldn’t stop his hand from twitching, the memory of it clear enough to feel. “Yes. I don’t understand it myself either.”

“I’ll search around. See if anything comes up.” Tim handed him a pile of papers. “Here, the info you wanted on her itinerary, plus things I thought would be pertinent without going over whatever line you seem to have drawn.”

Damian took them, and very begrudgingly said, “Thank you,” before ducking out of the room.

He waited until he was back in his own room before flicking through them, finding the trip schedule and the hotel rooms listed, the names of her class and teachers, and finally a list of her accomplishments and a copy of the paper that had won her class the trip, authored by her.

He read through it, noting the names of her classmates and their own community efforts, and the way her own section in the paper was minuscule compared to both each other persons section and the list of accomplishments Drake had drafted.

One classmate had, if no less written than than any other person, a distinctly different tone to what Marinette had written, and most of her community building and service events were merely echoes or assisting what another person had done. Damian shrugged it off, as there were sometimes people who simply tagged along, and never put their own effort out there. Followers, and not leaders.

All in all, he found himself more intrigued than ever about her.

TAGLIST:

@the-fusionist @rebecarojas07 @lowandco @kotaleartzu @resignedcatservant @alenee13 @mystery-5-5 @ladybug-182 @actual-disaster-human @loysydark @rumbelle18 @magic-miraculous @vixen-uchiha @athena452 @mochegato @ash-amg @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @thestressmademedoit @sassakitty @doriebell @jessigurl-design @emotionalsupportginger @kceedraws @kuroko26 @moonystars14 @toodaloo-kangaroo @myazael @theatreandcomicfreak @mer-mel @dahjokester @northernbluetongue @area51qt @renscorpio @redscarlet95 @razzledazzle247 @rosep16 @tired-butterfly @catthhay @shamefullove @imanerddealwith @chaosace @captainmac6 @bigpicklebananatree @abrx2002 @cici-schnee @multplelifes @shreky-boi @purple-people-eaters-productions @crazylittlemunchkin @weird-pale-blonde-person

[ineffable-endearments]

Okay. Now I'm going to submit some theories about how I think Crowley and Aziraphale specifically are going to go in the future of Good Omens.

Again, this post is not really...specific theorizing about plot events. It's big-picture stuff.

With that said, this post will get a bit heavy at times, in the sense that it will contain opinions that not everyone will like. It drifted into rambling about queerbaiting and all that stuff. I'm not going to spam anyone's dashboard with drama over it, but it's very possible someone else might try. It's also not really a negative post, depending on what you want to hear, I suppose. But if you're only in the mood to read fluff today, you'll probably want to pass it up.

Oh! Also it's very long, and sexuality is discussed in a vague way that doesn't involve any story elements or body parts.

For starters, I don't think Good Omens 2 - or even 3, if that comes about - is going to have anything explicitly sexual or romantic between the two of them, where "explicit" is things like the characters giving outright definitions of their relationship or outright discussing exactly what goes on between them, either on or off-screen. I also don't think there's going to be kissing or "hooking up" (come on...that person on Twitter shouldn't have even asked). Those actions are too blatant for what Neil has already said about the series. While they technically leave some room for interpretation, they probably don't leave enough.

I DO think it's quite possible other characters will continue to define the relationship FOR them and Crowley and Aziraphale will continue to not deny it.

As far as the queerbaiting debate, "is Good Omens queerbaiting"...it's gonna depend how you define it. I always learned that queerbaiting was basically where the creators intentionally make it look like a character is gay or otherwise queer but then swap that character development out for a cis identity and hetero relationship at the end. The point is that the "bait" leads to queer audiences being actively hurt. That's the behavior that seems awful to me, and I don't see Neil and company doing that.

However, I think it's far and away the most likely option that it will be left up to interpretation whether Crowley and Aziraphale are, you know, a buddy duo or a romantic couple or some sort of ineffable queerness all their own off-screen. So if your definition of queerbaiting is "the characters seem gay to us, but homophobes can tell themselves they're not," then yes, I think that debate will follow us to our graves if we let it.

I am a cisgender, possibly straight (?? demi/bi? I might never find out) woman. There is absolutely no way I could ever tell anybody, ESPECIALLY not gay guys and nonbinary people - the people Crowley and Aziraphale tend to resemble the most - how to feel about their treatment in the story. All I can offer is that I'm one flawed individual and there are things I have the emotional capacity to handle and things I don't. Crowley and Aziraphale as both a canon construct and a fandom pairing mean an absurd amount to me, and I can't hang around in spaces where people are constantly talking about how my own interpretations of them are not enough, or how the story is written with ill intentions. I don't want to stop anybody from venting about it, but I am going to be removing myself from those situations.

I like to imagine 1990 NeilandTerry, or TerryandNeil, as a sort of two-headed God who came up with Crowley and Aziraphale, set them loose on Creation, and now are watching them get up to way more ridiculous stuff in the brains of their fans than they'd ever imagined in the first place. I like to imagine them watching, amused and bemused, as their creations fall in love in thousands of universes, and saying, "Well, we didn't specifically Plan for this, but we did promise free will."

This is psychoanalytical toward a public figure and is therefore a bit dangerous, so please take it with an entire mountain of salt, but I sometimes think perhaps Neil sees some of his and Terry's friendship in Crowley and Aziraphale, and suspect that he wants to reserve the possibility that they could be platonic because he and Terry were platonic, while at the same time leaving room for the fans to have their own interpretations, too. Because if there's one thing that comes up really frequently with Neil, it's his belief in imagination and how much stories matter to people. He can have his little corner of the universe where A and C reflect himself and Terry, and we can have...literally anything we want, as long as we're willing to extrapolate just a little bit from canon. It's not even that much extrapolation! It's just "Yes, they love each other, so what exactly does love mean to you?" and if love means kissing, well then, if we can think it, we can have it.

Given that Neil has written LGBT+ characters before, I think he has non-bigoted reasons for wanting Aziraphale and Crowley to remain undefined, and given even the small chance that those reasons may involve the grieving process for a dead friend, I believe it is unkind to argue with him about it or hold his reputation hostage over it.

With that said, do I want canon kissing/hooking up/all that stuff we put in fics? Listen, I can't deny that I do! Personally, I'd be over the moon. I'd probably be so happy I'd have to go to the hospital to get sorted out. Even the thought of it makes me giddy and light-headed, because that physicality is a part of my own experience of love.

However, there are a lot of people who would feel left behind if that happened. Ace and aro people in the fandom whose love for their friends and partners is just as strong as mine, but who are sex-repulsed or just don't want to see kissing on-screen. The loss of Crowley and Aziraphale as a pairing who are extremely easy to interpret as queerplatonic would be hurtful to them, and I do not want to see them hurt like that. I don't think Neil does, either.

So, once again, the "best for everyone" option becomes a really strong canon relationship based in both narrative function and profound affection, which has genuinely thoughtful queer undertones and leaves open the logical possibility for romantic or sexual encounters but does not insist that they must happen. People, especially fans who are super invested, tend to have an easier time imagining scenarios that take place off-screen (e.g. kissing, sex) than they have erasing scenarios that they've already seen in canon (e.g., if someone wished they could continue viewing it as an ace relationship but they were shown "hooking up"). Also, while relationships are super emotional and extremely subjective, I'd argue that in a long-term adult partnership, the non-sexual connection is more important than the sexual one. As a fan, I'd prefer to extrapolate "they love each other so maybe they'd have sex" rather than "they're sexually attracted to each other so maybe they'll intertwine their whole existences together."

It probably isn't necessary to add, but I will anyway: I'm aware that Good Omens is sort of sacrificing social leverage - the ability to whack homophobes over the head with canon if they try to deny the show's queerness - and is thus not really contributing to making specifically gay relationships more widely seen and accepted. However, I don't think all stories have to invest heavily in every social issue they touch on for them to still be meaningful. I also do think Good Omens is an excellent example of a relationship that is extremely profound without being heteronormative.

I don't think the next season is going to be a rom-com. It will likely not even be a "love story," where the definition of "love story" is "a story that follows the development of a relationship and employs certain plot beats to make its point." Remember that conflicts and breakups are key to love stories, so if it IS a love story, then we're going to have to watch the relationship get challenged in ways some of us might have thought were already resolved in season 1! And while that could be thrilling and ultimately very good, it would also be likely to undercut some of the careful headcanoning and analysis we've already done. Any sequel is going to do that to some degree, but a second love story would probably do it a lot, with interpretations that people are even more protective of.

I'm sort of thinking the next season is likely to be a fantasy-heavy mystery, only because those are the two concepts Neil's introduction led with - an angel with amnesia who presents Crowley and Aziraphale with a mystery. Crowley and Aziraphale's connection to each other can still absolutely be a major theme! It can still be the thread stitching the plot together! It just probably, in my opinion, won't escalate and escalate and escalate like it did in season 1. And it will probably be woven in there among a lot of other plot threads that are, in many moments, louder. Still, I'd love to be left with the impression of these two existences, the light and the dark, subtly becoming more intimate, subtly growing more comfortable in this shared place they've chosen in the universe, gradually starting to behave like they know they aren't alone in the world anymore, all while other things happen to and around them.

Nonsexual physical intimacy - a really great hug, or leaning together on the sofa, or a forehead touch, or something like those, something that could happen in a lot of different kinds of relationships but is undoubtedly based in deep trust and affection and a desire to be close...that's the dream, for me. Oh, how lovely it would be.

Of course, I could be just absolutely, embarrassingly wrong about all this. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[prettywordsyouleft]

Ulterior Motive

Pairing: Ji Changmin (Q) x reader

Genre: friends to lovers au / fluff

Warnings: none

Word count: 1609

A/N: Happy birthday Em @soybeantree​!! I hope you’ve had a fantastic day! I hope this story makes your birthday just that little bit more special! It’s my first time writing Changmin, and I had so much fun doing so! 

“No way.”

“Just one!” Changmin begged, holding up his index finger near his face as he smiled encouragingly.

You laughed, shaking your head in response. “Oh, it is so not happening, Min.”

“Why not?! I have watched every movie you’ve wanted to even if its-” Changmin cut short with the stern look you gave him and laughed breathily. “And it’s been fun. Can’t you just give me one movie that I want to watch in return?”

“Me and a horror movie is not happening. We’ve been friends forever so I shouldn’t have to tell you why.”

“Your cousin was an asshole for locking you in that room and taking the remote away so you couldn’t turn it off. I beat him up royally, remember? But we’re adults now and it’s just one movie. Besides, I’ll be there the entire time,” Changmin replied and you sighed heavily, giving him a curious once over.

Normally Changmin would never be this persistent over you and horror movies. He had learned a long time ago that you didn’t watch them. You weren’t interested in the new paranormal movies or the gory kind of pastimes. You didn’t care for zombies either. Whatever the frightful content, you were fine with him watching them alone or going with a friend to see it. You didn’t knock Changmin for liking them, much like he never complained that you were a rom-com or periodic drama kind of person.

Well, usually.

Huffing a little, you squinted at the man. Changmin seemed agitated which concerned you. Why was today the day you had to watch a horror movie with him? Was there something he was planning? It didn’t bode well with you, given the context, and you folded your arms over your chest. “I can’t.”

“You can,” he corrected, reaching out to rub your shoulders. “I picked a tame one.”

“Tame? You mean, nightmare-inducing. I will have to hide behind a cushion and sleep with the lights on afterwards. Is that what you want?!”

His grin seemed to support this and you reached out to slap his arm and hiss at him. Changmin shook his head. “Y/N, I would never let you suffer.”

“So let me off the hook.”

“Just half a movie!” he offered and you groaned.

“Fine! Fine! What will you do if I have nightmares?!”

“You won’t,” he assured with a satisfied grin, directing you over to the couch in your apartment and setting up the movie. You looked at all your favourite snack foods on the table and then back at Changmin, smirking at him lightly.

He sure was going the extra mile with this.

Still, you weren’t exactly comfortable with the idea of watching a horror movie and it wasn’t even twenty minutes into it that you dove into Changmin’s side, burying into his chest as you flinched with fear.

Your friend’s arms were around you immediately and it felt entirely protective and warm. Although Changmin was always the type to loosely maintain some sort of skin contact with you, it wasn’t very often that you found yourself this pressed into him. You blinked slowly, focusing on the changes to his body. He was definitely working out at the gym more than you realised and you chewed on your lip as your hand relaxed against his abdomen. You remained hidden even after the scene was over, hoping the flare of colour to your cheeks would ease off and you could sit back up. The last thing on your mind now was the movie.

Jarringly, you managed to pull yourself away from Changmin’s safety a few minutes later, picking up a cushion from beside you instead. You used that to hide behind with a couple more of the jump scare moments, trying not to throw yourself back into his arms.

However, Changmin scooted closer, slinging his arm over the back of the couch to draw you into his side. “Use me.”

“Why?”

“Huh?” he breathed distractedly, blinking a few times before sheepishly grinning. “I’m able to comfort you more than a cushion. Besides, I promised you no nightmares.”

It dawned on you then that when watching a horror Changmin would be vocal about some scenes. He would laugh at most of the scarier parts as it was basically like a comedy for him, so all your mutual friends had expressed whenever they watched one with him. However, he had remained silent this whole time and at first, you thought it was for your sake.

Slowly, you added things up and smiled behind the cushion. Deciding to put your assumption into practice at the next scary moment, you threw the pillow dramatically and dove into his arms, feeling his heart thudding in his chest against your ear at how close you were now. There was no reason for him to be this reactive to the scene, and so you let out a triumphant laugh and snapped up to look at him.

“You sneak!”

“What?”

“Where is it?” you wondered, looking around the dimly lit room for evidence.

Changmin cleared his throat. “Where is what? Y/N, you’re acting strange.”

“I could say the same to you, Changmin! You didn’t want me to watch a movie just for the sake of it. I’m sure you’re trying to film my reactions!”

“What?” he asked, shaking his head. “No.”

“Then why-”

“I wanted this,” he blurted out, gesturing with his head to your close proximity. He grew hesitant, shy even and your eyes widened, watching him with high interest.

It wasn’t every day Changmin would show his vulnerable side so openly like this.

“T-this?” you stammered, looking at the way you were in his arms. More of your body was pressed against him than before and you blinked with confusion. “You mean, you wanted me in your arms like this?”

Changmin nodded, biting his lip adorably in the process.

“Why?”

“Because you’re so dense towards my affection! You friend-zoned me years ago and I’ve had a really bad week so I wanted you to need me like this just once in my life.”

“You made me watch a horror movie with you just because you wanted to cuddle?!”

“You make it sound so ridiculous,” he objected and you cocked your head to the side. “Which it is but humour me this once, Y/N.”

“And then what happens?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you said I friend-zoned you,” you explained, giving him a hard look. “Do I snuggle with you now and then put you back there?”

Changmin’s head dropped and he sighed. “I guess.”

“That sounds miserable.”

“Well, I’m not miserable right now,” he announced, holding you more closely.

You allowed him to do so, nestling your head against his chest comfortably. His hand mindlessly ran up and down your back and you shivered against it, enjoying the moment almost as much as he evidently was. You could tell the protagonist in the movie was having a hard time behind you and you didn’t even care, relaxing into Changmin’s embrace further. You were now all but within his lap, curled up completely against your friend.

And when you felt his embrace around you start to ease off after an immeasurable moment, you gripped onto Changmin tightly. “I never friend-zoned you.”

He laughed. “Oh yes you did.”

“I really didn’t,” you chimed back and Changmin pulled away to gauge your expression. Your cheeks were flushed from enjoying the comfort he was giving you but you were genuinely staring at him with adoration. And then you groaned and rolled your eyes. “You’re so silly.”

“Me?!”

“If you wanted my comfort, you should have just asked. We could have saved the horror movie being put on!”

“Hardly, you’d be suspicious of why.”

“I was suspicious of you earlier. Did you think that me leaping in your arms would satisfy you?” His immediate reaction confirmed your question and you laughed, nudging him playfully with your nose. “So silly.”

“Then tell me straight. Am I friend-zoned?”

“You’re my friend,” you started and his face fell. Cupping his cheeks within your hands, you grinned. “But I’ve always wished you were more than that.”

“You… but… really?”

You nodded. “Really.”

“So I can hold you whenever?”

“So long as you don’t go holding Kevin or Sunwoo like this too,” you agreed with a giggle and Changmin joined you.

The laughter soon eased off and you stared at each other intently. Changmin smiled slowly. “I’ve liked you for too long, Y/N.”

“Probably not as long as me.”

He rolled his eyes. “Let me have my moment.”

“Why, does it feel like a dream?” Changmin nodded and you grinned. “Well in my dreams, I’m always bold, so…” You pressed your lips to his then, kissing him slowly. He met your approach with added hunger, hands reaching for your waist and pulling you into his lap. Your kiss deepened as you reached to sling your arms over his shoulders, smiling against his lips before you pulled back.

“I don’t want to wake up,” he breathed and you nuzzled his nose with your own again.

“Then don’t.”

A second kiss happened and then a third and by the time you were both more than addicted to the taste of each other, the movie had finished, the credits now rolling on the screen.

You laughed and pointed at it. “Hey look! I lasted through an entire horror movie!”

“We didn’t really watch it, so it doesn’t count.”

“So? Technically I watched a horror movie with you tonight. And you were right about something.”

“What?”

Smiling giddily at Changmin, you lowered your mouth to just above his. “I won’t be having any nightmares tonight.”

_________________

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[thewritewolf]

Eating Habits Chapter 14: Baby Steps

Marinette is freaking out since the student spring fashion show is coming up soon. Chloe finds healing in her own way. 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Marinette’s foot tapped a rapid tempo as she watched the final preparations for the dry run of the spring show from her chair near the changing rooms. She wasn’t sure what it looked like from the seats, but backstage it was a sort of ordered chaos, not unlike backstage at the Jagged Stone concert a few months ago. Except, this time the stakes were far more personal.

Her nerves were shot to pieces, but that was about what she expected. This show was the culmination of everything she’d been working towards for the entire semester. Her fellow students had pulled out their best work as well and it was all she could do not to rush to her pieces and do even more last minute adjustments.

A hand settled itself over her knee and stilled her fidgeting. She blinked up at Adrien who was smiling at her patiently, wearing one of her spring outfits. Crouching down in front of her, he brought his eyes level to hers.

“You must think I’m freaking out over nothing,” she said, hunching her shoulders and looking away. “I know, this isn’t much compared to… um, everything else we've done, but…”

“No, I don’t think that at all,” Adrien replied, touching her chin to gently guide her gaze back to his. “It’s your first real fashion show with a bunch of people giving their all to make an impression. People are watching now, people whose opinions are listened to in the world of fashion.”

“You’ve only gotten better at these pep talks over the years, kitty,” Marinette said dryly.

“Let them watch. I know for a fact that you are one of the best designers here, if not the best. And I’ll be right here for the entire time, doing my damnedest to show off your amazing work. They’re going to see you just like I see you.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “As the amazing.” A kiss to her temple. “Wonderful.” Her cheek. “Talented.” A chaste kiss to her lips. “Designer who is going to rock the entire fashion industry to its core.” His hands left her knees and took her hands. “And I’ll be right there, cheering you on every step of the way.”

Between the nerves and the stress and his sweet words, it took all of Marinette’s will not to turn into a crying mess right then and there. Instead, she hugged his neck and whispered thanks into his ear.

As he pulled away, she first noticed the lack of his warmth. Quickly following that was the realization that he had grabbed her coffee.

“Hey!”

“Sorry, sweetie,” Adrien said, taking a large sip. “I told you no coffee or energy drinks till the show is over. We both know that they make you more anxious than you usually are and only barely help.”

“But… tasty…”

“I’ll make you a fruit smoothie when we’re done, I promise.” He took a few steps backwards and gave her a very Chat-like wink before tossing the remainder of the cup into the garbage and taking his place in the line up.

Marinette crossed her arms and grumbled to herself. “Stupid boyfriend, trying to have my best interests at heart…”

-------------------

Marinette clenched the fabric of her skirt in her hands, desperate to release any of the nervous energy she was holding onto. Meanwhile, Alya reached for a macaroon. Halfway toward getting it to her mouth, Alya noticed Marinette’s distress and raised her eyebrows.

“You wanna talk about it, girl?”

Marinette dragged her eyes away from where Tikki and Trixx were chasing each other in the kitchen, and looked at her friend. “Actually, if we could talk about anything but the upcoming show, that’d be great.”

“Are you sure? Talking it out might help you get some of that frustration out.”

“At this point, it’s just me over thinking things. I’m happy with where my designs are, but I keep imagining them in my head, looking for anything that could go wrong.” She sighed and buried her face in her hands. “I just… need to think about something else.” Poking out from behind her fingers, she asked, “So how’s work?”

“Oh they’re about to send me out of country on some dangerous missions. But it’s all to bring the truth to the people, so that’s all that matters, right M?”

Marinette’s eyes widened and her hands ceased her fidgeting to instead cover her mouth, which had opened into a small ‘o’. “Really?!”

“No.”

All the tension that had suddenly appeared in Marinette’s shoulders vanished as quick as it had appeared. She leaned across the couch to smack Alya. “Not cool, Al! You really worried me!”

“Sorry,” Alya replied with a snicker. “But nah, they’ve still got me doing local news stories. Which isn’t so bad, Paris is a pretty interesting place after all. Even without the supervillains.” Alya took a deep sip of her glass of red wine, a constant companion of their girls’ night in days. “And don’t get me wrong - I get why they don’t want to give the big, juicy stuff to the newbie reporter.”

“But…?” Marinette prompted when Alya starting staring into space, biting her lower lip.

“But… I’m starting to get restless again. I feel that energy from back when I was doing the Ladyblog - always something to do back then! An akuma to track down, a victim to interview, puzzle pieces to put together.” She absently swirled her wine glass. “A lot of freedom too...”

“You’re getting that look again.”

“Look?”

“Mhm. Your game face. You want your next big challenge.” She gently shoved Alya’s shoulder. “And go for it, Al! You can still do your job while having something on the side. A passion project or something.”

Alya considered this with another sip of her wine.

“You might be onto something there, girl.” She nudged her with her elbow. “But hey! Talking is only part of what we came here to do. How about we start up a bad rom com?” Marinette groaned. “Oh, hush. You’re basically a living rom com anyway, with how you and Adrien are.”

While Marinette sputtered and tried to argue, Alya cackled as she ducked out of Marinette’s reach to put the dvd in.

--------------

“How I missed Paris,” Chloe sighed as she stepped outside of the fashion boutique, carrying two large bags of the latest styles. “You should see some of the things I saw Americans wearing. Ridiculous, Adrikins. Absolutely ridiculous.”

Adrien chuckled as he fell into step beside her, the padding of his comfortable shoes drowned out by the confident clicking of Chloe’s heels. “So that’s all you missed while you were abroad, Chlo?”

Chloe peered at him over her large sunglasses. “Coy isn’t a good look on you. But no,” she added after a moment, “I suppose I missed the people too. You. Kagami.” Adrien watched her patiently and eventually she groaned and stamped her feet. “Okay, fine! Even Alya, Nino, and Marinette.”

“I’m happy to hear it,” Adrien said, giving her a thumbs up. “They’re certainly warming up to you too.”

“Right. Good. Not that I care, or anything.” Chloe sniffed and walked just a little bit faster. Adrien fought down a smile - he could recognize Chloe running away from her feelings any day of the week. Which is why he was surprised when she slowed down again, just before they reached her living space. When she spoke, it was more of a whisper. “So mom called again.”

The smirk he’d been wearing vanished in an instant, a serious expression replacing it. “What did she want this time?”

“Same as usual,” Chloe replied while swiping her card at the gate. “She was asking when I’d be coming back. It’s getting harder to tell her that I won’t be.”

“You’ll have to eventually,” Adrien said patiently. “You’ve already put it off for more than six months now.”

“Duh, Adrien. I get that part.” There was venom in her voice, but it was half-hearted and gone by the time she continued. “But knowing that and actually doing something about it aren’t the same thing.”

“You’ll get there eventually,” Adrien said, putting a hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “And it’s alright to be scared. She dominated your life for a long time. No one is expecting you to get over that overnight.”

“Yeah… I guess…”

“If you want, I can be there when you call.” Adrien brightened up and said, “And you can invite Kagami too! She’s got a lot of experience at telling parents to back off, so I bet she’d be willing to give a few tips.”

Chloe smirked. “You might be onto something there. If I freeze up, maybe she can even take over and chew out dear old mom for me.”

“There’s the spirit!” Adrien held up his hand. “High fives for spunky Asian girlfriends!”

Laughing, Chloe managed to high five him. “Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.” They stepped into her apartment. She stopped and frowned at the air. “You know what I just realized?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s not just about taking out the toxic people in your life. You need to add good people if you want to heal.” She smiled at him. It was a rare smile on Chloe - there was no smugness, no spite to it. Just honest joy and peace. “I’m glad you’ve been in my life all these years, Adrien. Even when I didn’t deserve it, you were always a good friend.”

She hugged him and after a moment of hesitation he returned the hug.

“That’s the thing, Chloe. You always did deserve a good friend. You just didn’t realize it.”

---------------

Adrien as Chat Noir slipped in through their shared balcony after a long day hanging out with Chloe. He was emotionally spent after doing all he could to help his old friend and at this point all he wanted to do was curl up next to Marinette and go to sleep.

That plan had a slight hiccup when he looked up to see Marinette walking around in a circle, staring at one of her outfits for the spring show. It was actually one of the ones that he would be wearing, but the important fact was that it had been finished weeks ago. Specifically because it was so easy to get the measurements done.

“Hey, kitty,” she said absently, never once taking her eyes off of the outfit.

“Hey, love bug.” He walked behind her and put his arms around her waist, tucking his chin on the space between her shoulder and neck. This close, he could practically feel her exhaustion, from the way her body was sagging a little, to how her eyes struggled to stay open even as she focused on the task at hand. She needed sleep, even if she pretended like she didn’t. “Whatcha you looking at?”

She sighed. “Just… going over all my pieces for the show. Again. I need to make sure everything is perfect.”

“Hm…” he made a show of peering at the spring outfit. “Looks perfect to me. Why don’t you give it a once over in the morning, huh?”

“No, no, that’s alright. I might as well get it done now.” She squirmed a little against his embrace, but didn’t really try to escape.

Changing tactics, Adrien said, “Well, I’m going to bed. It was a long day today… I could use some cuddles.”

“Uh-huh,” Marinette replied distantly. Her focus was entirely on the mannequin in front of her. “Go to bed, I’ll be there in a bit.”

“Well, I didn’t want to have to do this, but…” Quickly changing his grip, Adrien picked her up in a princess carry. Marinette squeaked in protest as she was carried to the bedroom.

“Adrien! I’m-”

“-driving yourself crazy trying to find non existent flaws? I agree completely. Besides, you’re practically dead on your feet.”

“I am not,” Marinette said with a yawn. Her already feeble struggles had turned into her resting her head on his chest, eyes fluttering as she tried to keep them open.

“Mhm. If you really want to worry yourself sick again, you can do that in the morning.” He gently set her in bed and pulled the blankets over her. “Claws in.” A flash of green light later and he was crawling in beside her. “But for now - sleep.”

“No, I don’t want to,” she said, but she was already clinging onto him, eyes shut and face buried into his chest as she drifted off to sleep.

Adrien listened to her steady breathing as he stroked her hair, feeling himself follow her into unconsciousness.

[dcarhcarts]

This.....is the 1000th post on this blog, and I definitely waited until that could be true to post it, and that’s honestly? Very fitting. Seriously, you guys are a m a z i n g and I have literally never done a milestone before so I can’t tell you what it’s supposed to look like?? But we’ve somehow Miraculously (tm) managed to reach 100 followers and - anyway, this is going to be me very unprofessionally gushing about everyone because....I love you all and you’re all amazing aaaaaa. I’m??? Literally so blessed to have made friends and write with all of you. Y’all with multiple blogs, I’m only tagging once so I don’t spam your feed ok? And - as usual, this is going to get Long, because everything I do gets Long apparently. I tried to do it chronologically but IDK how well it worked oops.

THE LOVES OF MY LIFE, THE SUN IN MY EYES, MY MOON AND STARS

@ccrrupticn  / D!!!! you are?? literally the reason I made this blog?? Without you, this thing would n o t mcfreaking exist omg!! You’re such an amazing writer (seriously, you manage so many muses and you give them all such distinct voices??? witchcraft???) and also so ???ridiculously kind! I love gushing to you about our Kids and you’re honestly A Saint (tm) for dealing with all of my blog construction/life related breakdowns, my crazy crossover headcanons and crashing into your inbox rambling about musicals <3 I miss talking to you so hmu whenever you come back if you want!!

@personnages /  Lynna!! You’re like an Actual Angel. I think you were the first person!! who talked to me??  And You were So Nice and Welcoming that you literally soothed half of my fears coming into rpc like immediately?? You basically helped me figure out how diminutives work and you’re responsible for me adding at least 3 of my muses and I cannot tell you how much I love you and every time you pop onto my dash/feed/discord/etc, it just makes me happy inside <3 Definitely 100000% will follow you to every blog (if you’ll have me lmao) regardless of fandom!! i’m super excited about all of our ship/friendship roulettes and you’re just an absolute joy to talk to.

@nikolacvnas / LYDIA goodness you are a W O N D E R. Probably the best? Historically based blog I’ve ever encountered, and definitely one of my favorite parts of the Anastasia rpc!! The care and research and attention to detail that goes into your portrayals are a s t o n i s h i n g? Your Tatya is divine, your Maria is So Lovely and I Cry For Joy that you write Dima honestly. I’d been eyeing your blog for a little bit before I made my own - and I was honestly a little scared of you when we started cause you are a GODDESS and I am a potato, but then we talked??? and you’re hilarious and a ridiculously kind person and I love you? And of course, I love your dog (the cutest in the universe).

@mythostold / LESLIE~  Different blog, same story~ Man, I’ve been following you since maybe day two of this blog being active? No matter which fandom you end up in and which muse you write, you have such!! good!!! takes!!! For one, I love reading your meta posts??? Like you’re just so incredibly passionate about your muses?? And your writing style is so good aaaaaaa it’s so atmospheric. And on top of all of that - you’re??? such a sweet and incredible??? person??? And I love talking to you boo <3 

@lifeawoke  /  NAT BBYSWEET <3 <3 <3  I have told the story of how I did a victory dance when you followed me to d e a t h probably but it’s t r u e your writing is amazing and your blog is amazing and y o u are amazing! You are the Natasha to my Sonya, and literally every time you send me a musing I’m like immediate-goofy-grin-heart-eyes???? It’s honestly a crime we don’t have more threads but like you’re an absolute joy to talk to and meme with and I adore you/your portrayal of beautiful bratty Natasha even if she drives my Sonya up the wall <3 You are Definitely the Funny Mutual lololol I crack up so much talking to you <3

@valianceearned / CARP you’re an amazing person/writer and holy h e c k am I impressed by your OCs!! They’re all so well thought out and developed? Your bios are so detailed and so much love and care is put into all of your characters. And your writing is so Lovely and it’s also very aesthetically lovely like holy heck the amount of work you put into both the content and the formatting? I am agog, I am aghast!! 

@gearsandlevers / Callie!!!!! YOU ROUND ALL THE CORNERS I STRAIGHTEN THE CURVES!! love your kids so much. Your Violet is a delightfully clever and likeable kid, your Evan might have literally walked off the stage two seconds ago, and you’ve put so much thought into your cinnabon stoner Henry. Your dialogue is amazing and I love our headcanon sessions lobbing ideas back and forth with you!! 

@spareisms / HEY MAGGIE GUESS WHAT YOU’RE WORTH MELTING FOR!!  You’re like the sweetest person alive??? How are you an Actual Real Life Disney Princess?? Your Anna is so well characterized and multi layered and I love how she an be so flawed but so brave and just how human she is. I’m very excited for your Anne Shirley too!! You’re a great writer (and a super sweet person aaaa) and I love you!! 

@gcneralvaganov /  Deanna, I have just one question: How? Have we only known each other for like 2 months???? It feels like my dash would literally be incomplete without you??  You play such deeply complex and incredibly flawed muses with such a great depth of respect and humanity. I love all of our AUs (we.....probably have a dozen by now), our long fix-canon tangents, and....look the inevitable conclusion to this whole thing is that we should....basically just write Anastasia tbh???  You’re incredibly funny and kind and talented and I’m so glad I yeeted myself into your IMs that first time 2 months ago! I love you, I love your muses, (Dima and Anya love their Dumb Boyfriend), and I love writing with you! 

@ncvaflows / ALEXA YOU ABSOLUTE LEGEND YOU. You??? Unlocked Ultimate AU Mode Ro and it’s like I c a n ‘ t stop?? First off, I cannot believe we literally own the same books and like the same barbie movies. How are we not literally the same person??  (Maybe w e ’ r e Anneliese and Erika lmao). Honestly from day 1 you’ve been so welcoming and lovely and I’m so glad we crashed into each other’s IMs yelling at top volume about random ya lit/movies/aus!! I adore literally all of your OCs (is everyone a b s o l u t e l y sure they’re not canon??? hmmmmm a Mystery)???? In the words of Li Shang, “You WRITE GOOD????” Anyway you’re amazing and I love you <3

WHILE IT’S DEFINITELY MY FAULT FOR BEING AN ANXIOUS BEAN WE REALLY NEED TO TALK MORE OFTEN CAUSE I LOVE YOU

@curtainrisen / Rebekah, dude, you’re a wonder. Your muses??? So diverse, and your voices for them? Super on the nose and amazing. I love your Helene and how human she is, and I really gotta toss more of my kids at you (Super excited for Duke!!). You’re real chill to meme with and I love talking/writing with you!!

@heartlosttravelers / Tor!! I love that you stan Raoul de Chagny So Hard ( the pure cinnamon roll boy deserves it honestly) and you’re super cool and great to talk to! All your muses are a m a z i n g and I always love the read when you pop up on my dash! 

@damerusse / Marie!! You’re hella chill. Your memes???? 10000000% actually legendary. Meming with you cracks me The Heck Up. Lily is forever the puppy dealer, that is all, thank you, gnight. Ok for real though - your Lily is pretty Legendary too and you really got all that Spark and Fire right down. You’re amazing, and I love stalking your threads on my dash!  

@lionhvrted / Fortune, my buddy my pal, we really be Out Here making Jane Austen plots even m o r e rom-com. Like. How did we manage that??? We might be literally magical lmao. We don’t have a ton of stuff going on at the moment but I love our dumb pining kids and I love the justice and humanity you give to your Caroline, and Fitzy loves his (future) wife.

@guvernantka / P R U E I already love our Exasperated Big Sis / Annoying Lil Sis / LITERALLY WHO EVEN ARE YOU YOU SMELLY DUMBASS LIL BRO IN LAW dynamic. You have the Best Sense of Humor (tm) and I’m always catching you when it’s like 12 in the morning here so I’m always cracking up silently in bed trying not to wake my roommies up. 

@anastcsie / I LOVE OUR ANGRY SMOL AND DIRTY TOL YOUNG-BUT-OLD MARRIED COUPLE AND THEIR OLDEST DAUGHTER NAMED MARIA ALREADY.  I love your Anya and how feisty and fiery she is (Dima, needless to say, loves his wife) and I love how chill (and hilarious!!) you are as a person. We do have a tendency to turn into angst monsters 24/7 but honestly that’s half the fun!! 

@asundrop / Polly!!!! ok so I know we haven’t really done anything w/ Raps (yet muahaha) BUT b o y was I hella excited when I found someone willing to yell about CDrama with me??? Thank you for being the Eternally Stoic/Always Annoyed Ancient God to my Tiny Dumb Fox Princess?? I love them and I love you (you’re hella cool) so there! 

@moretreasurewithin / KAAAATE goodness it’s only been a couple of days but I’m So Comfortable talking to you already? You’re just honestly really amazingly kind and I love screaming about Anastasia with you. We gotta get more going but I love your Dima and Maria Already (tm) and I love your sense of humor (here’s to torturing Dima with ties!!) and I can’t wait to get to know you better!

@annastrxng / AAAA somehow I managed to chat with you and then?? We never got anything going and it’s definitely mostly my fault cause of that High Anxiety (and also the fact that I got Immediately Busy) but you are literally So Nice and The Most Understanding and super great to talk to!! I hope we get something going in the future!! 

@soulcrossed / ROSE we have the same name I keep forgetting this lmao BUT ANYWAY. All your muses?? Amazing. You gotta throw more of them at me. Your Sophie?? Are you Actually Diana Wynn Jones in disguise?? I love our crazy au/headcanon sessions and I love/hate that you’re The Worst Enabler and I’m inevitably going to end up with the other two Hatter sisters on this blog lmao. 

I HAVEN’T TALKED TO YOU TON YET BUT HI!!! YOU SEEM CHILL!!

@alonecour / @steeledstark / @professor-of-predators / @sclskinn / @dulcettc / @volaticoux / @frxncaise / @argelfrasterr / @i-wrote-myway / @zharptiitsa / @villainsfall / @anyaromanovarp / @agoodandloyalrussian / @aliquisinter 

AND EVERY ONE OF Y’ALL AMAZING PEOPLE OUT THERE I’M ADMIRING SILENTLY FROM AFAR EVEN NOW BECAUSE I CHICKENED OUT OF TAGGING YOU LAST MINUTE CAUSE WHAT IF YOU’RE LIKE “LMAO WHO IS THIS WEIRDO TAGGING ME??” (p.s. this is 100000% permission to slide into my IMs/like a plotting call/etc. I honestly think y’all are hella cool and probably love you already)

[barpurplewrites]

Purple Bean Brew

Belle discovers something that Rush has been craving for months.

-x-x-x-

Rush had stripped off and fallen into bed a few hours ago. He’d been hoping to stay awake until Belle got back from the planet, but his eyes had become to blurry, and when he’d failed to get the right answer for a basic calculation, he’d admitted defeat and given up.

He had trouble sleeping without Belle at the best of times, and it was always worse when she was planet-side. There were far too many things that could go wrong on a new planet. The only method he’d found that let him get any rest was to cuddle into Belle’s pillow. He never slept deeply like this, but at least he was getting some rest.

The crackle of the radio woke him from his doze.

“We’ve found coffee.”

Rush bolted up-right and scrambled from the bed. Not bothering with his underwear, he thrust both legs into his jeans and only slowed down for a second to make sure he didn’t catch himself as he pulled the zip up.

“Fuck fuck fuck.”

His shirts were a balled-up lump of fabric, and his hurried desperation to get them on was only making matters worse. Swearing again he managed to get the damn things over his head and one arm into the sleeves as he stumbled across the room. He smacked the door release still trying to get his other arm into his shirts. Bare feet slapping against the floor of the corridor Rush ran at top speed towards the gate room.

The crew were used to seeing him running down the corridors, most of them just stepped aside and hoped like hell the ship wasn’t about to explode. He did notice a few more confused faces than usual, but that might have had something to do with his half-dressed state. For once he actually regretted choosing such out of the way quarters.

“Bollocks.”

Someone was kneeling in the middle of the corridor packing up a tool kit.

“Duck!”

They hunched over and Rush hurdled over them. His knee twinged as he landed reminding him that he was getting a bit old for this sort of malarkey.

The away team had returned by the time he made it to the gate room. Panting for breath he dodged around people until he found Belle. She raised an eyebrow at his bare feet.

“Is it true?”

“I’m ninety per cent sure. I want TJ to double check the readings.”

Rush’s face split into a huge grin. Belle’s ninety per cent sure was as good as a perfect one hundred from anyone else. He hugged her close and spun her round in a circle laughing; “Coffee!”

Belle gave him a kiss as he set her back on her feet. Her fingers plucked at the label of his shirt which was sitting at the base of his throat; “Inside out and back to front. You were in a hurry.”

He pulled her closer and whispered in her ear; “Forgot my underwear too.”

She gave his arse a squeeze; “Good job I didn’t find tobacco as well you would have streaked the ship.”

He wrinkled his nose at the thought. Enough people had seen him naked when the laundry nanobots striped him bare, then again for a cigarette he probably wouldn’t care.

 An hour and a half later a properly dressed Rush was sitting in the mess hall drumming his fingers on the table. Next to him Belle’s foot was tapping the same impatient beat. Brody had botched together a grinder for the strangely purple coloured coffee beans which TJ had confirmed were safe to consume and brimming with caffeine. Rivers had roasted them in the oven and was now boiling up some water to make their first pot of what he had already dubbed Purple Bean Brew.

The scent of the ground beans reached Rush’s nose and he started drool. He swallowed and wiped a hand over his mouth, just in case he’d slobbered on his chin.

Belle gave a little sighing moan that he was more used to hearing from her in more private settings; “That smells like that expensive stuff I got for Christmas.”

And he was drooling again, she’d shared that coffee with him, and it had been the best he’d ever tasted. He needed to keep his expectations from getting to high, this stuff could taste worse that the scalding brown water that masqueraded as coffee in the university vending machines.

“Surprised there’s not more people waiting. We weren’t the only coffee junkies.”

Rivers put two cups down in front of them and began to pour the purple brew; “That’s because everyone is waiting to see what you think of this stuff. And there’s plenty of folk who don’t want to get back on the caffeine pony.”

Rush eyed the cup he’d wrapped his hand around. Maybe he should steer clear as well? He glanced at Belle; “What do you think?”

She reached for her cup and lifted it to inhale the steam; “I think life it to short and to uncertain not to indulge in something that makes us happy.”

He raised his cup to hers; “Cheers.”

 Rivers watched closely as Belle and Rush took their first sips of Purple Bean Brew. He was braced for the worst, he’d gotten used to extreme reactions to the new foodstuffs they’d discovered on this journey, which is why he was stood far enough back not to get covered if they spat it out. What he’d not been ready for was the orgasmic sighs and groans, or the way all of the tension Rush habitually carried drained out of him. Man looked like he’d melted.

“So, how is it?”

Rush gave him a huge smile, an honest to God real smile, and held his cup out; “Bloody perfection. Top me up please.”

“Okay, good, that’s great.”

He topped off both their cups and walked back into the kitchen with a spring in his step. It was rare to get a compliment on his cooking, and even rarer to get one from Rush.

 Rush leaned over and gave Belle a slow, soft kiss. He could taste the coffee on her lips, and that improved the flavour all the more.

“Thank you for finding this sweetheart.”

She stroked a finger over his bristled jaw and then booped him on the nose; “This doesn’t mean that you can go back to not sleeping for three days at a time.”

He gave her a faux-pout that quickly turned into a devilish grin; “Ah, but with a few cups of this in my system I won’t fall asleep on you so quickly when we go to bed.”

There’d been a few occasions where one or both of them had fallen asleep mid-coitus. It should have been embarrassing, but they had laughed about it, and why not? It was bloody ridiculous, like something from a bad rom com. Besides, if they didn’t laugh, they might have ended up arguing, and that wasn’t smart on an enclosed ship. Rush still had a few difficulties with such a positive out-look, but Belle kept him right.

Belle shifted her chair, turning so her legs were between his. He spread out a bit more so she could get closer. She took another sip, her eyes smiling at him over the rim of her cup; “If this is going to keep you up for a while then I suggest once we finished our coffee, we head to our quarters and I’ll give you a hand, tucking you in and getting you off to sleep.”

Rush hummed deeply and leaned forward. He’d been planning to pull her into his lap, but more people arrived, so he settled for holding her hand instead.

“I do love the way you think Doctor French.”

[hot-mysticc-mess-blog]

RFA+ Minor Trio Pile O’ Christmas Head Canons

A nice responsible writer would have parsed out several ideas and spaced them out throughout the month to provide you a fun and cohesive festive experience, but you have me and so you get this on Christmas Eve Eve Eve

Yoosung

Gets super flustered at the idea of kissing you under the mistletoe

Misses so many opportunities to actually kiss you because of it

Spends all night one night leading you awkwardly toward the mistletoe at a family party

ALL THE DECORATIONS

You guys even decorate his LOLOL chair with a wreath on the back

For Yoosung, Christmas means spending a lot of time with his family

You guys spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at his parents' house and both of you end up helping make dinner and tidying up for when all the cousins arrive

He likes to pretend he enjoys the snow, but he just likes the idea of snow.

 The two of you go out to make a snowman after the first snowfall and he helps for the first ten minutes before he gets cold and just becomes the person who brings things out from inside 

Drinking hot cocoa together on the couch while you watch Christmas movies makes him very happy

Seven makes a joke about you wearing Santa lingerie, and Yoosung spontaneously remembers it several times throughout the day. He turns BEET RED every. single. time.

Jumin

First: He is that guy who points out that Jesus’ birthday was not in December and that Christmas primarily functions as a secular holiday to promote commercialism. This is basically canon

He really likes kissing you, but is generally wary of putting kissing plants among large groups of people

So the first couple years you’re together, he puts up mistletoe in the doorway to his bedroom and is just careful to make sure no one but you and him ever get caught under it together

The office does not get decorated for Christmas

No, you cannot...well, maybe you can put the tiny Christmas tree in his office

Totally lets you put the tiny Christmas tree in his office

He is more lenient about the penthouse, especially if it makes you particularly happy, but his preference is just put up one large Christmas tree and decorate it with an elegant theme, all matching ornaments, single strand of white lights

You can win him over by getting him a Christmas ornament with vertical stripes

Things get really busy around the holidays, but if you ever mention you like snow you will be whisked off on a Christmas vacation up to a ski resort

He owns the cabin, he is mediocre at skiing, but he never goes up to do anything with it. 

Jumin Han, much like Valentine’s Day, takes Christmas as an opportunity to shower you with expensive gifts

He, on the other hand, has everything and is very uninterested in Christmas gifts. He usually asks that you give him a handwritten letter instead

Which you do. He also appreciates any other gift you give him, of course, but what really makes him happy is if you give him something extra that you made yourself.

Then he loves and cherishes it forever, to the point of being ridiculous. 

Jaehee

You put a secret sprig of mistletoe in the storage closet as a cute Christmas joke

...she just never took it down

Christmas drink specials!

Her personal favorite is gingerbread coffee

She likes Christmas decorations but prefers simple ones like white lights and snowflakes

The cafe gets decorated for the holiday season, but usually, just with paper snowflakes the two of you stayed up late to make and some blue tinsel

Never really had any good Christmas memories, especially not of picking out a Christmas tree

You guys get a fake tree. It’s more cost-effective and better for the environment 

The two of you get a simple set of ornaments for the tree, and pick out a couple of fun personalized ones

The tree looks a little bare the first year, but you promise that the two of you will collect more each year

And you do. Every year you get more ornaments, as gifts, or from the occasional trip to the supermarket. Every year putting up the tree becomes a trip down memory lane 

The coffee shop is doing well comparatively, but you two are still short on money. So, you two both exchange one, small, meaningful gift every year and just enjoy each other’s company

“This is the best Christmas I’ve ever had,” she says every single year. 

Zen

Loves mistletoe

Is genuinely a little weird about it

Takes you to places that specifically have mistletoe, guides you to the mistletoe

Put up a sprig in his usual rehearsal studio so he could show you off to all his castmates

Likes to decorate a little, and will help you decorate if that’s what makes you happy, but prefers it to look nice

It doesn’t need to be color-coordinated like Jumin’s penthouse, but it can’t be a complete disaster

How many ridiculous winter ClickChat filters are there for to take selfies with? There’s an equation for it and it’s the number of selfies Zen takes divided by four

Zen goes to A LOT of holiday parties in December as he gains more and more popularity. As much as he loves parties, these are by far his favorite because he’s allowed to bring you with him. 

Zen likes to take you for walks when it snows or shortly after, so the two of you can enjoy the scenery together

Nothing makes him happier than having you by his side on Christmas Day

“I finally get to spend Christmas with my girlfriend and my family, all wrapped up in one beautiful package.”

Saeyoung

It takes you a long time to get Saeyoung into the Christmas spirit

He spends most of the season depressed about it. You try not push him.

Instead, when he’s having a bad day, you bring him treats and offer to snuggle.

It makes him feel a little better.

Over the years, he is willing to get more into Christmas, especially with Saeran there and surprisingly receptive to celebrating.

Saeyoung and Saeran like to watch the old movies and mock them

Saeyoung also gets unreasonably invested in the bad Christmas rom-coms, but his favorite movies are the Home Alone series.

You guys start out with the tiniest little fake tree from the store, and you convince him to buy tiny ornaments for it (not that you have to do too much convincing, those things are adorable)

He SHOWERS Saeran in Christmas presents, and you do everything you can to help him.

You all order take-out on Christmas and eat it all together while playing Cards Against Humanishness

Sometime during the month you also make sure to have a day out, Saeran, Saeyoung and you go to the zoo in the morning (Saeran really likes looking at all the animals), in the afternoon you guys go ice skating, and you finish the evening with ridiculous Christmas carol karaoke

For Saeyoung, it’s really important to him that Christmas is about family. His real family, the people who work hard to love and care for each other no matter what, the people it took him years to find. 

Saeran

You teach Saeran everything about Christmas, but you make sure to let him know he doesn’t have to get you a gift

He’s been through a lot and you want to make sure his first real Christmas is all of the fun and as few of the stresses as possible

You marathon Christmas movies. He spends the entire month of December basically glued to the TV screen

He finds it frustrating that Santa’s lore varies depending on the movie or show

He and Saeyoung are in agreement that Santa is super creepy and probably a spy

You still sneak out of the bedroom on Christmas morning and put out an extra present for each of them.

They still don’t believe it was from Santa, but Saeran gives you a soft smile. 

You and Saeyoung as Saeran what he would like for Christmas dinner. You all ended up having ice cream.

Saeran is torn between being edgy and wanting warm cozy sweaters.

His favorite present is a black sweater with a skull on it you bought him one year

During one of his first Christmases post-Mint Eye he put coal in Saeyoung’s stocking

He thought it was the funniest thing he had ever done

V/Jihyun

“Oh MC, it looks like we’ve been caught under the mistletoe.” He presses a loving kiss to your lips

That’s about it. He’s pretty normal when it comes to mistletoe

Takes you to Midnight Mass at a new favorite church he had to find after his ex-fiancee became a cult-starting man

You also have to sit through an awkward family dinner, but that’s far less meaningful for both of you

Is more than okay with decorating however you want and, though he’s better than he used to be years ago, reminds you of that more often than is really necessary.

If you ask what he wants though, he’ll inevitably end up with a tacky Santa Statue and one of those Precious Moments figurines nativity scenes

He prefers a real tree because he really likes the way it smells. He’s super attentive about watering and caring for it. 

Has been fretting about your gift for the last month and a half. Jumin is starting to get frustrated

Will not sing Christmas carols, but thinks it is the cutest thing he has ever seen when you do it

Does a Christmas portrait of you, and you use it as the photo to send out for the RFA’s Christmas cards

Vanderwood

He ignores the mistletoe. Unless you make a fuss about it, he will not acknowledge the mistletoe. If you make a fuss about the mistletoe, he will begrudgingly let you kiss him

Secretly enjoys it if you give him a quick kiss when you pass under a sprig, though

Really, doesn’t acknowledge most Christmas decorations, unless it’s something like a huge light up tree or strange snowman blow up on top of a building you see as you drive down the highway, then he spares a brief glance of disgust

Will put up small amounts of Christmas lights if you ask. It’s not that he doesn’t like them, they’re just...so much work. 

He found the perfect Christmas gift for you 8 months ago while on a mission and has been hiding it with his emergency flee-the-country cash and all his alias paperwork

He does his best to try and be home for Christmas every year, but just in case, he always insists you make Christmas Day plans with the RFA and just comes with you if he happens to be home.

Vanderwood both a) happens to be really good at building gingerbread houses and b) happens to really like making them

You two usually clear off your dining room table and make them together. 

Is partial to gingerbread tea

For the most part, he views Christmas as a holiday for you. If his December turns out poorly, then it’s just another month. Unlike him, you have a light in your eyes still. There’s a part of you that sees magic in Christmas, and he wants to keep that part safe.

[berrypepper86]

mad about the boy

“This is where it all begins. Everything starts here, today.” - One Day by David Nicholls

This.

So much.

And so my quest to discover how, when and why I came to fall for this guy continues through this blogging malarky. Third post in and I feel like I need to lay down some facts as of right now.

No, we are not together.

Yes, there’s something there. I’m just not sure exactly what that something is - and I don’t think he’s sure either.

So I guess I need to set out the background to all of this - which I feel I should refer to as the cluster-fuck of my mind. 

We met in 2010 at work at a different store to the one I’m currently working at. We bonded over the same love of comedy, TV shows, films… not closely but enough to appreciate our shared sense of humour. After eighteen months I moved on from that store - worked temporarily in another before moving permanently to the store I’m still at eight years later. 

He completed his own management training and got his first appointed post at the same store - reunited, humour same as ever and with it he and I and a small selection of fellow managers became friends. Nights outs became a thing… along with it a secret Messenger group for us all to roast one another and let out our frustrations in a non-values led way. 

Looking back over those times, I was definitely always mad about him. I know every time he was even mentioned I’d get a big smile on my face and even when he’d do the smallest thing - like sit opposite me in the weekly manager meeting and just do that cheeky wink - I’d do the stupidest girly giggle. And I’m not even girly. 

I’ve always been what they called a tomboy for most of my childhood - preferring to live in jeans, baggy jumpers and converses. Sometimes I look back and wish I’d taken more notice of how to properly do your hair so it looks at least semi-presentable - a couple of months ago my hairdresser had cut my fringe a little too short and I went round thinking I resembled Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber for the best part of four weeks. I also wish I’d taken on more than just the basics of doing your make-up. I’ve only recently discovered the benefits of using highlighter but I’m still not sure I’m even doing that correctly. I’ve always felt comfortable being “one of the guys” but sometimes, even now when I’m asking my girl friends to help me curl my hair, I wish I did have more fashion and beauty skills so I’d feel more confident standing in front of a guy I’m crazy about.

I suppose on a plus side, he’s always known that that is what I’m like. That he’s seen me in my scruffs with my hair looking a bit like Edward Scissorhands and my make-up looking like shit. He’s seen me when I’ve had a complete irrational tantrum and he’s seen me in numerous mardy moods knowing full well that it was the wrong time of the month for me. He’s laughed at me throughout and beared the brunt of my fist as I slammed into his shoulder in response to his teasing. 

He’s seen me drunk on numerous occasions - bad singing and bad dancing, falling over and coming out with ridiculous comments that I’m embarrassed to even type. While everyone else was dressed up to the nines and I felt a little uncomfortable in my own attire knowing I didn’t look half as good as they did, I covered it up with humour.

A little bit of dancing from The Inbetweeners when THE song came on in the club, a bit of vintage disco moves and unsuccessful attempts at the Moonwalk - he was always right there beside me doing the same thing. I’d be pestering him to do The Worm - he’d get a flash of embarrassment but then laugh and say he wouldn’t do it… He did it at one work’s Christmas party though. He was walking ahead of me and suddenly just dropped down to the floor and started doing it to the delight of everyone around us. I remember screaming in shock thinking at first that he had fallen forward and was about to faceplant the floor but that scream soon turned to a cry of joy when I realised what he was actually doing. 

Sometimes, and it was a rarity, he’d break out in the first part of David Brent’s infamous dance from The Office. When I think back to how I must have looked when I joined in, I cringe with embarrassment. 

I mean, you don’t see those types of things in rom-coms do you? Girl meets Boy and they’re destined to get together by the end of the film but she doesn’t do stupid shit like that in front of him like it was perfectly normal. I always thought I was single and couldn’t find the right guy because I didn’t always behave like someone who was looking for The One - that I was too much of a tomboy for any guy to see me as anything more than a friend.

And for a while I actually felt okay with that. I have my own house with a mortgage and my own car; I live on my own on my own two feet with supportive parents not too far away. I don’t actually need a guy to live my life when I’ve been doing that already for so long. 

Now I’m thinking about him and I’m thinking “oh my god! He saw me do this and he saw me do that! Oh god and then there was that time I was a complete moron and he knows about this…!” He knows about various embarrassing things that happened to me over the years that not many people actually knew. But then the other part of me reassures that he knows me as I am… not making out I’m someone I’m not or putting on a front. 

And over the years when we went out and we had a few drinks, he’d come up every so often and whisper things to me. He’d come up behind me and squeeze my waist - would whisper that he wanted me along with various other things and I would just give him a look as he bounced away before I could respond.

My thought process was that he was just a happy drunk - that alcohol made him say things he didn’t mean and why on earth would he mean them when he had a gorgeous girlfriend at home? I still think, even with the new knowledge that he always meant it, that he would never have been unfaithful. That if it came down to it and I reciprocated he wouldn’t have one through with it. 

I never told anyone over the years that he’d do that when we went out. And we never talked about it. He never made me feel uncomfortable or violated in any way when he did do that - I’d just brush him off with a laugh and a “yeah, okay, whatever!” because it was laughable to me that he would actually mean what he was saying.

Now he tells me that he always meant everything he said over the last ten years; just shouldn’t have said them at the time because he was married/in a relationship and drink makes him say things he shouldn’t. And now he’s not married, he can say them.

But the thing is, all this isn’t simple. 

He’s getting divorced, so yes he is now single and he can admit these things to me without any consequence. The problem is where he’s at in his life - mentally as well as everything that’s going on around him.

Last summer, he changed his Facebook status to single. And when initially asked by everyone, he told us it was all amicable and I didn’t believe him.

He’s always been a closed book - never one to talk about his feelings or open up about his problems. He might let one or two things out to you if he trusts you but other than that he is completely guarded and uses humour as his defence. 

Turns out that his wife had been having an affair… and apparently this wasn’t the first time. Not having a conventional upbringing, he’s now found himself alone in the world with no family around him. He hasn’t worked at the store where I and his friends continue to work for just over two years - he completed his senior management training and was moved to his own store forty miles away from where we are. 

So although since he’s been gone we’ve had occasional night outs where we meet up, they’ve been very far and few inbetween. And so our concerns as his friends are that he doesn’t open up and he’s nowhere near for us to keep a constant look out for him. 

A few people have been constantly messaging asking how he is - they sit and they talk about it on dinner breaks; how they always knew she was a wrong’un, they always hated her and never thought he was right for her. They stalk her social media and they found the guy she was sleeping with; who she’s now in a relationship with and they bitch about her and then they moan that they message him and he doesn’t always respond to them.

I don’t join in on these conversations. They never feel right. 

I haven’t told them that we have been talking regularly since just before christmas; that our conversations have gone further than that of two people in a friendship. I haven’t told them that actually I don’t ask how he is all the time and I don’t enquire about anything to do with her or the divorce unless he tells me anything himself because I know that continually pestering him about things he doesn’t want to talk about will close him off more. 

The prediciment I’ve found myself in - this cluster-fuck - is that I’ve fallen for a guy in a way I’ve never felt for anyone in worst possible time frame. That I know isn’t emotionally ready for a relationship; whose trust issues are at an all time low and what he must be feeling right now I can’t even begin to imagine. 

I feel selfish for feeling like this. I know that I’m supposed to be patient - that his head isn’t in the right place. I know that life is going to throw a lot of ups and downs at him and that me asking “what actually are we right now?” could just close him off from me completely. That thought scares me… especially as he has been barely communicating with so many other people recently. 

This is why I need an outlet. This is my way of getting everything out so I don’t drive myself insane. 

Because I don’t know the ending of this story yet. And I want to be a supportive friend without adding any more complications to his life. Trust me to realise that I’ve been crazy about him for all these years during one hell of a complicated situation. 

The title of this blog comes from a song lyric from Ed Sheeran’s ‘Dive’

Trust Ed to hit the nail on the head in the form of a beautiful song.