#yes comments OF ANY KIND and reviews OF ANY KIND increase that happiness because it's like solid confirmation that the text was consumed

[zombolouge]

I love you readers. I love you kudos leavers. I love you commenters. I love you star-givers on book sites. I love you people that leave book reviews. I love you people that link books and fic to their friends. I love you people that give books as presents. I love you anons who pop in to tell a thought about what they read. I love you people that reply on twitter and tumblr with eye emojis to new ideas. I love you people that retweet and reblog work updates and posts. I love you people that follow so that you see new shit that gets written even if you never interact. I love you readers that are too quiet and shy to say something but still read all the words. I love you people that consume the stories. I love you.

[brellhal96]

It’s... pretty complicated

CHAPTER 2 

FORMALITY 

Chapter 1

General summary: College dramas in the life of a third-year student who decides to start, not a relationship, but something with a renowned professor.

Summary: After going out for some time comes the time to define with certainty what is going on between you two.

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x FemReader

Word count: 5454  

Warnings: Content only for over 18s, mentions of insecurity, a bit of nervousness and unprotected sex.

Notes: Sorry to delay in uploading the content, it is somewhat short but I hope you like it, I am open to any comment or suggestion, thanks for reading me.

Not my GIF, credits to whom it may concern.

It had been two months since you started dating Tom, things were going quite well, both managed to be the perfect team in almost everything, you had even finished the project for which you had started to have this relationship.

After a few days when Tom insisted, you agreed to have a key to his apartment, being honest you loved the action but you didn't want him to think that things were going too fast or that you were too invasive, but he really wanted you to have it, so you agreed. He also already knew your apartment, quite smaller than his but still cozy.

”It's pretty cute" Tom looked at you from the dining room while you were on the living room floor looking like a 10-year-old girl learning to use acrylics.

” I feel like it's not completely good " You watched the painting from different perspectives, you prepared it for the university culture week where students compete in various areas such as music, dance, poetry, and even painting.

"Don't be so modest, it's perfect” he stood up and went to the kitchen for paper towels to start cleaning up all your mess.

”You know you're dating with a perfectionist, " you laughed as you saw that all your legs, hands, even your face were full of paint, but you felt pretty, just wearing one of his shirts and your sneakers.

"Oh come on, in that case you wouldn't go out with me, I'm a mess” Very carefully began to wipe your face full of paint.

"Yes, but you're my mess" You accidentally took his face and stained it just like you "And sometimes disasters are prettier than perfect things"

” You're totally beautiful Y/N " Both smiled as you shared a look of complicity and mutual desire.

He carefully began to slide his hands down your legs, at first with the intention of cleaning up the mess of paint that was on your body, however with the rubbing of his fingers on your thighs as he lifted the shirt showing part of your body more than necessary, both knew that this would not just end in a routine cleaning.

For a moment as his fingers touched your skin directly you came closer to him and slid your hand down his neck, right in the places where you knew he would fall under your charm.

After a gaze of complicity, he began to kiss your legs with too much lust , that you could only end up lying on the floor with a curved back, you thanked internally that the only thing you wore under that shirt was lingerie easy to remove.

"Fuck, I want you all the fucking time, this is starting to worry me." With force he spread your legs and kneeling right in front of you he began to unbutton his shirt while you from the ground watched him with your restless breath.

"I told you, you're dating with a fucking perfectionist." You wanted to start unbuttoning your shirt, but with a sharp look and a quick move, he took your hand from yourself, even put your hands over your head with one of his hands as a sign that you couldn't move them.

"This time I command" In a sense excites you even more that position of took full control even over your movements and he saw it through your eyes.

With the intention of generating more desire in your eyes and heat in your body with a delicate touch and taking care that the fingertips slide down all your legs I remove your underwear. You moaned with the touch and put your hands in your eyes as you began to tremble.

” I knew you were excited by my touch, but not so much, " he roared in a voice so deep that you knew that with just this you began to get wet like never before.

"Please Tom" You bit one of your hands while throwing a look of complete need, he saw you for a few seconds with the intention of making you see that he was in charge this time, but still he could not resist to please you.

"Your wishes are orders" He took your legs and placed them on his shoulders as he began to lick your stomach while two of his fingers were inserted inside you so your back curved again just with the entrance. The kisses as well as the rhythm of his fingers began to get more and more desperate, you knew that your moans began to get stronger with each crossroads, and just as he inserted the third finger you felt that you would cum

” You must wait" he roared as he withdrew from you leaving you with half-breath. ”Fuck, even needy, you look perfect."

He began to lick and kiss your entrance at the same time as he played with his hands between your thighs and hips, you could only give sudden pulls of his hair while with the other hand you covered your moans.  

”I can't, not anymore" You begged for your release as tears began to come out of the huge climax you were feeling.

"Do it for me" Fiddled a little with your hip as you cum completely feeling an overwhelming release.

After a few seconds you managed that your breathing would stop being so heavy while he was still looking at you with your legs on his shoulders.

"Are you going to stay watching me all day or better I call the pizza boy" You smiled provocatively, you knew it was a bit of a joke "the pizza guy" was a guy who was still a high school student but was a delivery in his spare time, or that's what he told you the other night that he started wanting to flirt with you, until Tom came on the scene in a certain way marking his territory, which didn't bother you at all, it made you laugh.

At the comment Tom bit his tongue and arched one of his eyebrows showing you that you wish you hadn't said that. Quickly he undress you completely, and seeing him take off his belt you knew you would need a few days of rest before you had another round.

He leaned over you carefully, placing his axis right in the middle of your entrance, for seconds (which seemed microseconds) you shared a gaze of mutual lust, as if you were two boys who after so many years of being forbidden to touch each other, could do it now.

He began to enter you and you started to tremble, so when he completely enter you he place your hands on his neck so that you hug him while he began to increase his pace, as it was always quite delicate in these moments, he always pretended a position of superiority and domination before you but dealing with the full moment, in sex always he cared that you feel comfortable and protected.

"Are you okay?" He calmed the rhythm a little while he saw you in the eyes, your hip in front of the action came closer to him, you could contain him and he realized.

"Yes" In the middle of moans and altered breathing you answered half-heartedly ”Go on, please"

His rhythm became quite strong, even his groans were deeper than you had heard before.

"Just fill me of you," you whispered in his ear as they avoided losing consciousness in full mutual orgasm you had.

”Fuck" he replied as you felt as you flooded with him, even at some point you felt as you faded away for a few seconds as he also arched his back over you.

After a few minutes while you were both lying on the floor, carefully he lifted you up and took you to bed while you were dozing in his arms.

"Please don't paint again just with my shirt on” You smiled while he was setting you up to sleep “Or actually, yes, do it again”

"Your wish is my command, isn't it?" You kissed him and then fell asleep.

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

The week went quite well, Monday after the great sex you two had, you went to leave your painting for the cultural week contest, you did not make any expectations actually, there were very good paintings, but it would make you very happy to win.

They began to exhibit all paintings and it was very nice that Tom went to the exhibition as if he were another teacher reviewing school activities, but only took a photograph of your paint while you watched him from afar, because you decided to go at the same time to tour the exhibition although in a certain way with their necessary distance, sharing looks from time to time.

On Friday of that week the results were given and it was quite nice when they told you that you had won the first place, you did not believe it, Jared and Diane accompanied you to receive your first place bun while they took photos for the gazette of the following week.

"So, my number one artist would agree to have dinner with me tonight?"Tom kissed your hand already in his apartment while you ate something in the kitchen in incognito mode.

"Tonight?" You laughed when you pictured yourself with your cheeks like a hamster full of children's cereal that Tom had bought specifically for you.

"Come on, it'll be fun, I promise” He took the box and as your ideal partner he also filled his mouth with children's cereal.

"Okay, but where are we going?”

"That'll be a surprise," he winked at you.

"Mmmm" you pouted " but should I go formal, casual or a bit of both?" You caressed his hair as he hugged you around the waist.

”This time it will be formal" He smiled in the form of complicity, as if this had been planned for quite some time” And that's why I bought this" He gave you a gift box with a rather strange logo on the lid, but you knew it was clothing, you had seen it on some boxes of your mother's clothes.

"Hey, you weren't supposed to do this” You pout again, I knew you kind of didn't like me spending on you.

"Just open it, I feel like you're gonna love it”

When you uncovered the box it was a beautiful evening dress, black color, long with opening in one of the legs to make it look more beautiful, with an open back.

"It's ...“ You held it in your hands feeling the fine silk between your fingers, it was a very nice dress "It's perfect" The emotion in your eyes was reliable, you had never worn such a dress before but whenever you saw girls in them, they look beautiful.

"Well, then we have to prepare because the reservation is at 10:00”

"You're a cheat, you should have told me before”

"I wanted everything to be a surprise”

Both will dress up, at the end of the day you looked like a perfect couple, so elegant and mature, even as if they were married, He watched as you modeled for yourself the dress in front of the mirror even without believing how beautiful you looked.

”I could admire you all night" he said as he leaned against the door frame.

”I really love it, thanks a lot" You smiled shyly, it was the first time you wore this type of clothing, something totally out of your comfort zone.

"Come on, a long night awaits us" You never thought it would turn into a long night.

When you arrived at the restaurant it was pretty cute and elegant, it was far from the university, it drove an hour to get there, which was very good, so no one would see you together and it was completely worth the long trip. It had city view with outdoor balconies, jazz background and quite cozy despite so much formality. The waiter was very kind and you knew of the existence of food that you completely ignored.

Everything was going perfectly well until you heard how behind your back someone greeted Tom as they waited behind you.

"Tom?" He sounded like a rather pleasant voice of a mature man, but the presence behind you was two people.

The moment he greeted Tom his instant nervousness reaction was quite obvious, you even noticed that he passed quite strong spittle.

"Mike, hi" You could actually analyze his reaction pretty easily, but it wasn't that obvious to other people.

"Long time no see" Now the woman was the one who spoke, you were very curious to see who they were but you did not want to turn to look.

Tom stood up and shook the man's hand, that's when you decided to look back.

The woman was Tom's age but the man looked older, they were tall, quite formal, he was wearing a perfectly cut black suit, clearly tailor-made, she was wearing a dress came quite low-cut and cute, she was blonde, thin, you were actually overwhelmed to see how perfect the two of them looked together, not as a couple, but as a royalty father and daughter.

"Well, aren't you planning on introducing this pretty lady?"The man saw you from above, you were still sitting and you looked at Tom who also saw you a little worried, you knew that it was because nobody knew about you, literally nobody.

"Sure, sure, she's Y / N” You stood up and shook hands with both of them while Tom held you by the waist.

"Wow, you had the secret well kept Tom" The blonde smiled as she stared at you "You like young girls" you felt that her comment was quite direct and not with a good intention exactly.

”This is Mike and Tara, my friends" Tom saw you trying to tell you that everything was fine.

"Nice to meet you" You smiled shyly as you waited for the atmosphere to relax a bit.

”We do not want to disturb your dinner, so we withdraw" The man clearly noted that you were not very comfortable with the new presence.

"Oh come on, we could have dinner together, would be a good idea, don't you think?"The blonde didn't take her eyes off you, which made you feel quite uncomfortable so you preferred to keep your eyes only on Tom.

"Come on, Tara, I'm sure they already have plans.”

"And we haven't seen each other for a long time, or would you mind?”

Tom cleared his throat and saw you, actually your look was in the sense that it wasn't bad if he said yes, only you asked that he wouldn't leave you alone at any point.

"All right, let's have dinner.”

Actually Mike was a kind and gentlemanly man, you could tell he was self-confident and quite handsome actually, where as Tara was a strange woman, she was attractive, but her attitude towards you made you feel strange.

“And how was your new job? I heard you plan to publish a new book” Mike addressed Tom very kindly while they were waiting for dinner.

"Well I think I'm doing pretty well, the classes help me reinforce everything I already know, even to learn more, and I plan to publish the book in a few months, right, honey?" He took your hand and kissed your knuckles which made you feel very comfortable but just as nervous, it was the first time that someone knew about you two and you had no idea if you were to be trusted in they.

"Yeah, sometimes he lets me read his sketches and they're pretty good, I swear," Mike nodded, it was pretty easy to hold his gaze, quite the opposite with his partner.

"It's good to see you found a nice lady Tom, I thought I would never know anyone who could stand you "Mike joked and you smiled broadly" He's like a son to me, take good care of him please " Tom had never told you about them before, which made you feel something bad being honest but you thought it was for something. Faced with all these comments, Tara kept a cold and quite serious look.

"And how are you doing with the project?" Tom seemed pretty comfortable with the talk, and it made you feel included, so you didn't mind the sudden change of plans at all, at least until now.

"How do you think we are doing with the project, Tom?" The woman sounded very defensive.

"Tara, please don't start" Mike noticed his attitude " It's getting a little complicated with some issues with permits and stuff, but in the end it will be achieved"

"I'm glad, you know I'm sorry I can't help you, I just needed time since the last project we had" Tom saw the table very thoughtful.

"Quiet is fine, we all deserve our space"

The dinner continued something nice, the woman at some point also relaxed and stopped being defensive during the dinner, however that changed in the bathroom.

"I have to go to the powder room, I'll be back in a second," You got up carefully as you examined the place for the baths.

"I'm coming with you, I know where they are," The woman noticed your reaction.

It was a little awkward going there together, but you told yourself that your prejudices were most likely, so don't take her personality so seriously.

"You and Tom look so cute," She retouched her lipstick while washing your hands.

"Thank you, I think we get along very well"

"How many years does he take you?" She saw you from the mirror.

"Ammm" you weren't sure you answer that question.

"Oh sorry, how curious I am" Her comments were completely defensive "I never thought he liked that kind of girls" she smiled mocking.

"Well, it turns out that he and I have a relationship mature enough to be honest" You weren't going to let her make you feel bad, you didn't even know her.

"Relax, with Tom things are only for a while, or at least how did he ask you?" Your gaze reflected how bewildered you were. "Oh, I'm so sorry, he never asked you to get engaged, did he? or at least something similar, that's right, just tell him you like him, he ask you for time, and then he shows up with another girl eating while wondering what you did wrong" Bingo, her comments were of spite, but at the same time your insecurities began to emerge, it was true, he never asked you to be something formal.

Without saying anything you decided to get out of there, but before entering the door Tara spoke to you again.

"Girl, I'm not saying this out of hatred towards you, even if it sounds like that, just be careful with the decisions you take," she licked her lips finishing touching up her makeup.

When you arrived at the table you felt different, as if you could not look at Tom, you were no longer hungry, you decided to ask the waiter to take your plate and bring you only a glass of wine. Does he see you as something for a while? Or did he want you two to be something else?

"I think we should go Mike, tomorrow is work day" Tara gave you a look but no longer aggressive, even seemed to apologize somehow.

"Well, we left them then, it was a pleasure Y/N "Mike kissed your hand" and I hope you won't disappear for years again" he told Tom seriously.

"I promise" Tom stood up and hugged him, they actually looked like father and son, with Tara shaking her hand.

When they finally left you felt an uncomfortable emptiness.

"That was pretty weird," Tom ordered the dessert, though you really didn't want it.

"Don't tell me" you were looking at your glass of wine "Why didn't you ever tell me about them?”

"I never thought it was necessary, actually, it is a stage that I do not like to remember much" He looked you "They're just friends from the past"

"Should I worry about what they know about us?”

”Not at all, they're both trustworthy, Tara might be a bit strange but she wouldn't do anything to hurt us" That made you think that then he had something with her, you unwittingly, frowned your eyebrows tightly "It's everything okay?" Tom bent his gaze trying to find yours.

"Yeah, it's nothing, I'm just tired” you saw him for a few seconds but looked down immediately afterwards.

"If you want we can go home, and there we eat the dessert”

”I think it's perfect." You pretended everything was fine.

During the journey you, you spent thinking about everything told you Tara, you didn't know if it was legit, but somehow that happened to you, you weren't introduced as his girlfriend (which he had never before been necessary in reality) but in a certain way by what Tara had to see that, even asked yourself if you could call him your boyfriend officially, if it is the kind of boyfriend would present with your parents and friends, you realized you had many things to talk about, but you didn't know if it was the right time.

When you arrived at the apartment the first thing you did was go to the bathroom to process a little everything that had happened, when you returned Tom was waiting for you in the kitchen with dessert on a plate and two forks.

"Chocolate cake, as I promised you” He had told you a few days ago that he would make you taste one of the best cakes in town

"I hope it's as good as you promised” You took one of the forks and started eating, but you didn't even notice the taste, your mind was somewhere else.

“So, what do you think?" When Tom asked you clearly, he pulled you out of your thoughts and he realized.

"It's Okay" you smiled without seeing him.

”Don't like it?" Tom seemed disappointed actually.

"No, it's delicious actually, I just don't feel good.”

"What's wrong?”

"Nothing, don't worry”

"No, tell me what's going on, please Y/N" His look showed real concern.

"I don't want to look crazy, you know, let alone upset.”

"You know I would never think that of you”

“It's just, I got to thinking that, I do not know, are we that kind of relationship that presents itself to your friends, family or even parents at some point?“ Tom seemed a little confused, "I mean, I know our relationship is pretty strange and complex, even if we're not something formal, you know" Your hands started shaking unintentionally.

"Hey, what do you mean we're not formal?”

"Yeah, you know, you never asked me to be your girlfriend or something, I guess that's why we're not a couple formally, which is fine if we agreed now, I understand, but ..." You fiddled with the fork in your hand and Tom smiled absurdly.

“You know, I never believed that it was necessary and I'm very sorry, sometimes the age difference makes us look at things a little bit different” In that he was right, sometimes he thought as your grandfather, that made you laugh, “I don't want to sound now like crazy” I look at you intently as he smiled from the side, “I love you Y/N, I love you like you have no idea, I had never before felt that someone understood me this way, and I know I sound like a lunatic by the way in which we met, but you're cute, smart, strong, witty, perfectionist, and you are the most wonderful woman I have ever met in my life" You felt faithfully that he was serious. “So, if you want it, yes, when relevant, you know, for all of this to the university and our professional relationship, I would love you to meet my friends and family, I want to warn you that it will be something strange, but it will be well,” He hug you very strong and you adored the feeling of peace that he conveyed being in his arms “And if you wish, I could meet your friends and family”

"I didn't want to look like I was pressuring you, please don't think that.”

"Never my love, I would never think about it" I kiss your forehead " Just tell me why did you suddenly think about this? For Mike and Tara?" Oh God, you didn't know whether to tell her about your talk with Tara in the bathroom. You hesitated for a second until you decided not to lie.

"Did you have anything to do with Tara?”

”Wow, that was direct “Tom smiled as he sat right in front of the kitchen counter” It's pretty weird, but we never had anything serious you know, she and I went out a few times and then she told me that she was interested in me, but to be honest with you I didn't feel it was her, so I told her that I didn't want anything, which I think that hurt her“ You knew he wasn't lying, you knew it from the tone he had in his voice" So when I finished working with them, by the way, Mike was my professor at the university with whom I started working immediately after graduating and because of whom I met Tara four years ago, I decided to leave, at first because I needed my own time and work on my projects and not only school or work, even personal, and on the other hand I also thought that the best thing was to leave Tara, I no longer felt comfortable"

”I'm sorry, I didn't think it was like that."

"What did she say to you?" He smiled without really taking it too seriously.

"Nothing, only that you had something temporary and you had left without explaining”

“Well, no, actually when I was I don't I lied, I told them what I just said just a second ago, and Mike can confirm, and I'm going to be completely honest, I dated with her for some time, but from the beginning I told her that my intentions were not going beyond something passenger and I thought she had understood” he sighed for a few seconds “With you I don't feel the same, I know what that is for a person to play with you and I hate that people do that, I don't know why Tara told you those things, but I swear I with you I feel very happy and for you I would do anything, I swear " Her look gave you a full sense of tranquility and mutual trust.

”I trust you" You took his face between your hands and you nailed a deep kiss "You know, I love you too" you felt your heart burst with love, it was the first time you told him "And I appreciate that you have the confidence to tell me about this" For a moment you held each other while he stroked your hair.

"By the way" Took the slice of cake and knelt in front of you "Let's pretend this is happening two months ago with two weeks please, do you want to be my girlfriend?" For a moment you thought I was joking so you just laughed "Is seriously, I mean, I don't have a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolates but I do have a slice of cake, delicious cake, so, what do you say?" When he said he was serious you didn't believe it, it seemed kind of strange in reality but at the same time it flooded your heart with happiness.

"Yes, I would love to” He stood as he held your face between his two hands and kissed you deeply "I would love to be your girlfriend”

"Well, you were already my girlfriend, but let's comply with the formality" He put the cake on the table "this dinner was really weird”

"And dessert is not going to be enough for both of us" You smiled as you took the cake as if you were going to devour it all by yourself.

”Or we can have some other dessert" Oh not that tone of voice, again sex in the kitchen, last time you had to clean everything up, but you certainly smiled boldly just thinking about it again.

"Or, we could try to see if there's anything in the fridge” You ran to the fridge but skillfully caught you by the waist keeping close to him.

"Are you sure?" He turned you firmly by the hips so your back was stuck to his body while your abdomen was right on the kitchen counter, you felt like the heat between your legs began to increase, you appreciated bringing slippers, that helped you a lot for these things.

"Or show me what else we could do" You bit your lips as you placed your hands leaning against the bar.

"With pleasure" whispered in your ear while with his legs he opened yours and made you lie a little more on the bar, quickly raised your dress to the waist and seeing your garters you felt like he got even more excited than he was already, hearing how he undressed from just imagining it you moaned, so immediately that he could tangled your hair in his hand, while with the other he prepared to give you one of the best nights of your life.

Your legs bent completely when he entered you without warning, so you felt as if you were going to fall at that precise moment, with agility he hugged you from the waist holding you while with his same legs he prevented you from closing yours.

”Ask for it" he roared as he took a rather slow pace which made you moan for more at the time.

"Please, please I need you," you moaned as you held with one of your hands his arm that held your hip over the bar.

"You don't know how fucking good you make me feel” he leaned a bit on you so he reached deeper, which made you feel like in fucking heaven, always came to make you feel much better than last time in sex, and that excited you.

"Make me yours, only yours" you begged as your legs began to tremble more and more and your knees felt that at any moment they would give up.

Your heels squeaked on the floor while his belt grazed your legs still hanging from his waist, the onslaught was getting faster and deeper, you couldn't help but moan at the touch of the metal buckle between your legs, even unintentionally you stuck your nails in his arm at every touch.

"So that's why you wanted me to wear this dress so easy to handle" You smiled full of lust as your back curled still over the bar.

”I swear I didn't, but when I saw you with him I couldn't help but want you with all my strength"

At one point you felt like you couldn't take it anymore, the heat all over your body was uncontrollable and when you intertwined his hand with yours you felt like you couldn't want more.

"Come and get me" pressed your hip against him as you felt the orgasm take over both of you from one second to the next, again the kitchen would be a mess but whatever, it was completely worth it.

Her moans and yours together for you were a way to make your orgasm feel a thousand times better, even her hand touching your belly made your legs tremble more than normal.

When you two were done, you were together for a few seconds, but when he let you go, your legs accidentally won, and you almost fell.

"Wow wait" he carried you to the couch where he laid you down with him. "Are you okay?" His voice sounded anxious

"Relax, I'm fine" You smiled still trying to regulate your breathing again " Only I don't think the dress it's okay” You laughed completely when you saw it was dirty than it was more obvious there could be about you right now.

"I guess it goes away" Both laughed when they realized how funny this was.

"Fuck, why are you so perfect?" You kissed him while you laughed.

"I hope that when I meet your parents they will think the same”

"I assure you, yes” you smiled, but you imagined how strange that is going to be when it happens.

[lala-ladybug]

Healing Hands: Chapter 1

Hello hello! First fic here, it’s a Maribat AU with a side of Sword Art Online. Or what I remember from having watched the show once about five years ago. We’ve got Marinette and minimal class salt, Young Justice but only the good parts, and primarily Jasonette. Please spread the word (I am a tiny sideblog) and let me know what you think <3

Read here on AO3

Next

Chapter 1: You have no idea how many baddies I’m going to blow up because of you

Friday, at long last. Marinette could not have exhaled a bigger sigh of relief. It was mid-way through the school term, her commissions were ramping up, and Hawkmoth had become frustratingly active. Her duties as class president had only increased as she and her friends neared the end of lycée, not to mention all the studying she was doing for the baccalauréat on top of her regular school work. Commissions were booming now that her popularity as the anonymous designer MDC was soaring worldwide. She wouldn’t give any of it up for the world, but she might enjoy getting more than three or four hours of sleep for once.

There was only part of her life that had gotten easier since that day three years ago when she was entrusted with a pair of spotted earrings and an old god to match. Ladybug started out with one partner, but she now had a whole team to share the responsibilities of keeping their city safe. Ryuko and Viperion became permanent fixtures of the Parisian rooftops, and Bourdonne replaced Queen Bee after the infamous (albeit self-inflicted) unmasking of Chloe Bourgeois. The people of Paris looked to these heroes with pride and trust.

And Marinette Dupain-Cheng, now the Guardian of the Miraculous, looked to her partners with trust as well. She had decided that with her in charge, she could no longer keep secrets from her friends, from her new Order of the Guardians. She discussed it with Chat Noir, and he had smiled and agreed that it was time. And one day, when Ladybug gathered her teammates on a remote rooftop in the dead of night, she said only “I trust you,” before allowing her transformation to fall.

She wasn’t nervous, not really. She knew Kagami and Luka had good hearts, and she had seen firsthand how much Chloe had grown. Those three accepted her civilian self, her true self, without half a thought, and followed their leader in dropping their transformations as well. Chloe got her quips in while Ladybug looked to Chat Noir.

He passed his gaze over the faces of their friends and smirked like he was holding in a laugh. As he said “Claws in,” Marinette could hear the laugh in his voice, an intonation that sounded so very familiar, and oh. Of course.

Adrien Agreste beamed at his friends, both in the mask and out, and said fondly, “I’m so glad it’s you.”

The rest, of course, was history. For the year and a half since then, the five heroes of Paris had kept the city safe from threats magical and mundane alike. Hawkmoth had, of course, gotten craftier and more vicious with his attacks, sometimes choosing to send bursts of weaker akumas over the span of a week, sometimes waiting a month before sending an especially brutal villain their way.

But it was nothing that the Order of the Guardians couldn’t handle. Even though it could get exhausting after a while, which is why the incoming weekend was a welcome reprieve. There was another reason why this particular weekend was so exciting, which was that a new video game, Mindscape, was debuting. It would be released at midnight EST, which was 6:00 in the morning for Paris.

“Today’s the day, girl!” Alya squealed as she flagged Marinette down on their way to the classroom. “We are so lucky that our class won that raffle to get these exclusive passes. I bet I’ll be the first blog to get the scoop on this new tech they’re using!”

Marinette giggled and started to reply, “Super lucky, right? I’m excited too, I heard--”

“You know,” Lila cut her off as she sidled up to Alya. “I’m not saying that I didn’t enter us to get those downloads, but I was a big help with beta testing.”

How she managed to time that comment just as the three girls crossed the threshold of the classroom, and how she managed to know that nearly the whole class would already be there to hear it, Marinette would never understand. She only had to wait a moment before the rest of their friends rushed to the door to thank Lila.

“This opportunity is amazing, we are incredibly grateful!” Max was first in line, ever the technology-enthusiast.

Kim pushed his shorter friend out of the way and vigorously shook Lila’s hand. “You have no idea how many baddies I’m going to blow up because of you.” Lila looked a little overwhelmed as he continued to shake her hand all the while, and she gave him a nervous smile.

He was soon pushed out of the way as Alix muscled her way to the front next. “I definitely owe you for giving me the chance to kick his ass in a brand new way!” She jerked her head to where Kim had landed on the floor, pouting at her.

As the rest of the class who would be joining them in the game’s premiere expressed their thanks, Alya looked on with an affectionate smile. She was so very happy that she now had two kind, selfless best friends. Her smile fell a little as she noticed Marinette stoically edging her way around the crowd and up to her seat, not having said a word to Lila. Alya just wished that her two besties would get along.

Alya put a hand on Lila’s shoulder and smiled her thanks before following Marinette to what was once their shared desk. “You really should thank her, you know,” Alya implored hopefully.

Without turning around to face Alya, Marinette paused and shared an incredulous look with Adrien, who was already seated at his shared desk with Nino. She then shrugged and replied, “Lila never actually said that she got us the passes,” before continuing up the steps to her seat at the back of the class. Alya shook her head and sat down. It was always like this, a cool indifference from Marinette whenever Lila came up. They were both such incredible people, Alya couldn’t understand why they didn’t get along.

As for Marinette, she was semi-content to let Lila be as long as her lies didn’t hurt anybody. Her unrealistic promise to take away all of Marinette’s friends was never fulfilled, and honestly the amount of emotional energy it used to sap from her just wasn’t worth it anymore. Marinette had no idea how Lila was going to get her hands on a copy of the game when Mari was, of course, the one who had won the raffle. She distributed the special access passes herself, and Lila certainly hadn’t gotten one. If this was the way that she wanted to make friends, she would eventually have to face the consequences.

But for now, Lila was basking in her praise. That is, until she glanced at her phone and gave a small gasp of dismay.

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked, concern already etched on her face.

Lila covered her mouth with one hand and started rapidly blinking back tears. “It’s my VIP copy of the game. There was a mixup in the mail and it won’t get here in time for tomorrow morning! I’m so sorry everyone, it looks like you’ll have to do it without me....” She buried her face in her hands and her shoulders trembled with barely restrained sobs.

The class shared a worried look, and Sabrina piped up, “It’s okay Lila, you can borrow my copy.” Lila immediately looked up and surged forward to clasp the hands of her friend.

“Really? But won’t it have the same problem?” Sabrina smiled and shook her head. “Nope, it’s a digital download! I don’t mind, you can always trade it back when your VIP pass arrives later.”

Lila gave her a brilliant smile, any tears long-since dried. “Oh, thank you so much Sabrina! I’ll see what I can do about getting you a VIP pass too once mine gets here.”

At that moment, Chloe walked in, and one look at the scene displayed in front of her had her rolling her eyes at her former best friend. She gracefully swept up the steps to join Marinette at the back of the classroom and whispered to her, “Aren’t they all digital downloads?”

Marinette, who had started unpacking her bag to prepare for class, inclined her head and gave the blonde a meaningful look that indicated yes, they were indeed all digital downloads. Chloe snickered and started preparing her own side of the desk.

After the fiasco of outing herself as Queen Bee, Chloe had lost the minimal support and tolerances she had been allowed before. It gave her time to truly reflect on how she acted and treated other people. She had since been quietly making amends with those she’d wronged, and the person on the top of that list was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It took time and a lot of effort on Chloe’s part, but she mellowed out and did a lot of growing up. She still spoke her mind, though.

“Huh that’s strange, I got the VIP package too, but mine was a digital pass,” Chloe loudly proclaimed, studying her nails nonchalantly as the rest of the class turned to look up at her.

Lila grit her teeth into a forced smile and replied sweetly, “Well that’s because mine was an original beta testing copy that they had to update for the full game.” She turned her attention to Marinette and a note of false concern crept into her voice. “Oh Marinette, I hope you’ll still have time to come too! I know you’ll be busy this weekend with planning the spring class field trip. It would be such a shame if it didn’t happen because you were too busy playing a video game.”

Marinette suddenly felt very warm under the gazes of the entire class. She stammered out, “Oh-of course we’ll get to go! Don’t worry, I have a meeting with the school board on Monday.” Trust Lila to sniff out the one thing that had slipped below her radar.

Lila’s eyes lit up with an opportunistic gleam. “That’s great! Where will it be?”

“Well, uh, the school board has to review the location, so I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I can tell you that it will be in, um,” her eyes flicked around wildly and landed on the posterboard of different flags from the prior week’s lessons. “America!”

The class burst into excited chatter moments before Madame Bustier arrived and the late bell rang. Marinette released a breath and sagged in her seat. Saved by the bell.

Chloe gave her a sidelong glance and murmured, “America, huh?”

“Shut up,” Marinette shot back.

* * *

Madame Bustier tried to get the class to pay attention, she really did. They struggled through their lessons before lunch, the volume of side conversations between deskmates swelling all the while. The moment the bell for lunch dismissal rang, the students exploded into conversation as they left the classroom.

Marinette waved as Chloe and Adrien walked off to go meet Kagami and Luka at a nearby cafe. She breezed into the patisserie across the street from Francois Dupont and gave her surprised Maman a kiss on the cheek.

“I thought you were going out with your friends for lunch?” Sabine asked, balancing a tray of eclairs on her hip. “I forgot I have to plan our class trip!” Marinette replied cheerfully as she hurried into the kitchen to quickly fix herself a croque-monsieur. She gave her Papa a hug as she finished preparing her meal. He shouted up at her to not make a mess as she retreated into her room to eat at her desk.

She gave a small snort at that. It was nearly impossible for her to make a mess of food when she had over a dozen Kwami there to clean up after her, but he didn’t know that. She greeted said Kwami with a delighted grin and a wave as she set her plate down by her desktop computer.

“Marinette, why are you back so early?” Tikki asked, “is everything okay?” The other Kwami swarmed around her as she woke her computer up and logged in.

The girl waved one hand nonchalantly and opened up a web browser with the other. “Everything’s fine, I just forgot about planning the class trip!” She took a huge bite of the sandwich and started typing furiously. Several Kwami dove after the crumbs that sprayed everywhere.

“Ohhh, I see! Do you have an idea of where to start?” Tikki zoomed around Marinette’s shoulder to hover next to the monitor screen.

Marinette had the same determined gleam in her eye as when she finally found the perfect fabric for a design. She said confidently around a mouth full of ham, “America.”

* * *

By the time the lunch break had finished, Marinette had a preliminary list of cities on the East Coast of the United States. She had researched Gotham first, but it looked far too dangerous and gloomy. Next was New York City, which she determined was too big. Philadelphia was historic, but in a way that would definitely bore her classmates. Boston was too cold despite its excitement. Which left Metropolis as the perfect candidate. It was also protected by the perfect superheroes, Superman and his family, so she was absolutely confident the school board would approve of the city.

Of course, the meeting on Monday would need more specifics than just the city, but she was pleased with her progress so far. Marinette shut down her monitor, grabbed her backpack and plate from lunch, and went downstairs to the kitchen. She quickly scrubbed and dried her plate in the sink before waving to her parents as they bustled around, accommodating the tail end of the mid-day rush.

Marinette walked across the street with a spring in her step and, spotting a tall flash of blue hair, half-jogged up to her group of friends.

“Hey guys, sorry I couldn’t make it to lunch!” She grinned apologetically at Kagami and Luka.

“That’s alright Melody,” Luka gave her a side hug, “Chloe told us you were busy planning your class trip.”

Adrien slung an arm around Kagami’s shoulder and pulled his girlfriend closer to whisper conspiratorially to her, “I hear we’re going to America.” She laughed softly at his antics and at Marinette who stuck her tongue out at him. Kagami then said to Marinette, “That sounds delightful, Marihime. I trust you will still be joining us tomorrow morning?”

Marinette’s eyes lit up with excitement at the prospect of playing the game with her friends all weekend long. “Definitely! I’m going to finish preparing for the school board meeting tonight so that we can play the second it comes out.”

“If you can wake up on time,” Chloe teased.

Marinette crossed her arms defensively and stated with pride, “I already set three alarms, thank you very much!”

Adrien burst out laughing at that. “Leave it to our everyday Ladybug,” he winked. Her face flushed as she pouted. He chuckled again and kissed Kagami on the top of her head. “See you later, mon coeur.”

She and Luka waved to the rest of the group as they left to return to their own schools. The three Francois Dupont students watched them go for a moment before returning inside.

“So, you and Kagami have plans?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah! Our parents gave special permission for a sleepover at my place tonight so we can play the game right when it comes out tomorrow.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit he had never quite abandoned. “But I’m not sure how often we’ll be able to be online with you guys after this weekend. You know how busy our schedules are....”

Marinette elbowed him lightly as they walked. “It’s a blessing you both managed to convince your dad and her mom to let you come to the launch at all! We’ll play together when we can, it’s no big deal.”

Adrien smiled gratefully at her and held the door open for both Marinette and Chloe as they entered the classroom. Alya was already there, and once she spotted her best friend (well, one of them), she skidded down the steps with a huge grin and held an invisible microphone up to Marinette.

“Thank you Nadja, and good afternoon Paris! This is Alya Cesaire, and today I am joined by young fashion designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, can you give us an exclusive scoop on the trip you’re planning for your class?”

“Good afternoon Mlle. Cesaire,” Marinette giggled, “Unfortunately, the trip has yet to be approved by the school board so no details just yet. But I can tell you with certainty that we will be visiting the resident city of some popular American superheroes.” She winked as she finished in her best interview voice.

Alya gasped and dropped her pretend microphone as she hugged her best friend. “Really!? Oh my gosh girl, you are the best!”

Marinette laughed and hugged her back as Alya jumped and spun them around. Once they pulled apart, she told the brunette, “As soon as the school board gives me the green light, you’ll be the first to know.”

The late bell rang and the girls practically skipped to their respective seats as Madame Bustier called the class to attention. Well, “attention” in the loosest sense of the word. They struggled once more through the majority of their lessons, but Madame Bustier seemed to sense defeat and she let them chatter excitedly for the last twenty minutes before dismissal.

Kim and Alix were boasting about how they were going to stay up all night, while Max encouraged them to maximize the time they would be able to play the next day by getting a full night’s sleep in before the launch time.

Lila bragged about her role in the creation of the game from its conception to even having suggested the highly anticipated date of release. Adrien pointedly ignored Lila in the row behind his and discussed the music they had recorded and mixed for the game with a very enthusiastic Nino.

Sabrina looked on a little sadly until Mylene, Ivan, Rose, and Juleka invited her to join their Disney movie marathon double-date instead. Mylene was too nervous to play the game so Ivan chose to sit out to support her, and video games weren’t really Rose and Juleka’s style. Sabrina’s face softened as she gratefully accepted their invitation.

Nathaniel turned around in his seat to talk to Marinette about the art rendering and the programs they used while Chloe scrolled aimlessly on her phone.

By the time the bell finally rang, the class was beyond excited to go prepare for the launch the next morning.

Marinette, to her credit, swallowed her enthusiasm and sat down to fully plan out their trip to Metropolis. It was grueling work, researching the safest hotel that was still in a central location. It had to be affordable but not shabby, too, because they had a limited budget. She eventually settled on the reputable Wayne Hotel, apparently part of an enormous corporation called Wayne Enterprises, and then began to build an itinerary with different events from there.

She worked nonstop the rest of the night, with the exception of a brief dinner break, and it was nearly 11:00 at night by the time she finished. Marinette sat up from her desk chair and stretched, then double-checked that her alarms were set before finally heading to bed.

[luke-patterson-owns-my-soul]

The Interview: Part One

Title: The Interview - A Luke x Reader One Shot

Words: 3,177

Summary: Y/N gets to interview Sunset Curve when they finally go on tour near where she lives.

TW: None

Author’s notes: Ok… the interview part is kind of inspired by a glorious evening when myself and a friend got to interview our favourite band just before a gig. I was much clumsier that Y/N and made a complete fool of myself on more than one occasion, but it seemed to have worked because they loved the interview – or so they told us.

I hope you like it. I’m not 100% with it, but didn’t want to drag it out for the hell of it. This is set in the UK, so spellings may be a little different.

(credit @nikascott​)

The first time you heard Now or Never, you knew there was something special about Sunset Curve. Their lyrics and the beats of their pop rock tracks made you feel amazing and you couldn’t help but dance every time you heard them.

You spent all your time online anyway, so you decided to set up a Sunset Curve fan account. You didn’t expect much to come out of it due to bein in the UK while they were based in the US. But you religiously shared photos of the guys, wrote funny articles about them after speaking to people who’d been to their shows. Shared credited photos from gigs which soon got you respect from the fans and you began to build up a following.

You managed to fit running the account single handed, fitting it in between being at university studying for your degree in media and working part time. You’re not in it for the recognition, you just want to show your appreciation for a band you love.

Your best friend, Carrie, doesn’t get it. She doesn’t understand how you can spend so much time expelling energy on four guys you’re never going to meet, but she indulges you because you also run one for her band, Dirty Candi. Your friend and the rest of her group are insanely talented, and even though they’re not a genre you tend to listen to, you support them because that’s what friends do.

It’s been a year since you’d first heard Now or Never and since you set up the account. You’ve amassed over ten thousand followers, most of whom are also in the UK, when you get your first band member follow. Bobby Wilson, the rhythm guitarist likes a post you shared about him and promptly follows you. You get constant likes from him and sometimes the odd comment. Your followers go insane but you manage to keep calm, ish.

The second follow is Alex, the drummer. This time you do go a bit crazy, because he’s adorable and you can’t help be a little in love with him.

It takes less than a day after Alex’s follow before the bassist, Reggie to follow you and send your notifications into overdrive by commenting on a ton of posts. You scream into a pillow on your bed because it’s 2 a.m. and you don’t want to wake Carrie up.

The one follow you’re waiting for doesn’t come. Luke Patterson, the lead singer and your favourite member hasn’t joined his bandmates, and while you never expected it, you’re more than a little upset by the fact.

“Honey, he’s like a Rockstar. He’s got more important things to do than follow fan accounts online.” Carrie was right, but it still stung a bit.

“I know, but…”

“Y/N, sweetie. I adore you, but you need to let it go. I don’t want you working yourself up over this, please. Why don’t we have a girlie night, just the two of us? We’ll watch cheesy films, eat junk food, and sing bad karaoke. No phones.”

“I love you, do you know that?” I told her.

“How could you not?” She flicked her pastel pink hair over her shoulder with a laugh before going to prepare snacks while I got the lounge ready for an evening of lazing around.

:: ::

Halfway through The Greatest Showman, Carrie falls asleep, so after you cover her over with a blanket, you pull your phone out of the box she hid it in and scroll through social media.

         |Hey, @SunsetCurveFansUK did you see this??

Included in the message is a link to the official Sunset Curve account. You click on it and there’s a note from the band. Announcing a UK tour. You begin to hyperventilate as you try and prevent yourself from screaming out loud, but it doesn’t work and you let out a loud squeak, waking Carrie up.

“What’s wrong? Y/N, are you okay?” She sounds worried, so you shove your phone at her, unable to speak. “Oh, wow. This is cool. Start saving because I know you’re gonna want to go to every show.”

“Yes, yes I will.” Getting to your feet, you do a crazy dance around the small lounge of your apartment, making Carrie laugh. You only realise at the last minute that she’s recording you. “Don’t you dare post that online.” You warn her.

“Too late, sweetie. It’s already on my story and I tagged the band.”

“I hate you. Worst friend ever, I think I’ll advertise for a new one.” You grumble, making her laugh as you settle down on the couch to catch up on everything you’ve missed online.

:: ::

When tickets go on sale, you’re disappointed they guys are only doing four dates in the UK, but you buy yourself a ticket to all of them. Sadly, they don’t offer up any VIP tickets because they’re running contests for fans to win them for each show. Their tour manager, Trevor – who also happens to Bobby’s dad – has messaged your account asking if you’d like the opportunity to interview the band as a thank you for all the work you’d put into promoting them.

“Oh my God, Y/N. You’re gonna meet the band, your favourite band.” Carrie is grinning, happy for you as you stare at the message on your phone screen in disbelief. “Are you going to reply?”

“I… er… what is going on?” You stare over at your best friend who’s grinning widely at you. “This is a joke, right? Someone’s pulling the ultimate prank on me, aren’t they?”

“Y/N, look. For over a year, you’ve been pimping out those guys like crazy. You’ve increased their fan base here, which has made them want to tour here, and now they’re offering you this amazing opportunity. Take it and run with it, You deserve it.”

At her words, you reopen the message and reply to Trevor, saying you’d be honoured to do the interview. Then you freak out.

:: ::

The night of the first show and you’re hovering outside the venue waiting for Trevor to come and meet you once the guys finish their sound check. You can faintly hear the strains of Now or Never, and you get goosebumps. Thankful you’re nowhere near where the queue to get in is growing longer and longer, you start to pace outside the door. It suddenly opens outwards, making you jump, and Trevor’s head appears before behind it.

“Y/N?”

“Yeah, hi.” You hold out a hand for him to shake, surprising him and yourself with how composed your voice sounds. He shakes your hand and then motions for you to enter the venue.

“Great to meet you. The guys all love your account.”

“That’s amazing to hear.” You make conversation as you follow Trevor through a maze of narrow corridors.

“Are you ready?” He asks as you approach a closed door. You can’t help but hesitate, making him look back at you in worry. “Hey, are you gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, it’s all just a bit… overwhelming.”

“Look, they’re great guys, as normal as they come. There’s no need to feel nervous around them.” He smiles at you and pushes open the door, gesturing for you to enter. “Guys, this is Y/N from the UK fan account. Go easy on her, okay?” Once you’re fully inside the room, Trevor leaves and closes the door behind you.

“Hey,” Reggie speaks first as they all stand up. You shake hands and instantly feel at ease. “We all love your account, it’s very honest.” He’s clearly referring to your review of their last album where you openly said you weren’t a huge fan of a couple of the songs. It was an integrity you were determined to have on the account. You didn’t want to be seen as the type to blow smoke up their asses just because you were a fan.

“Thanks. I love running it. It keeps me busy and out of trouble, apparently.” You laugh as you pull a fold-up tripod out of your bag and set it up to record the guys for your account. “Do you mind if I film the interview?”

“Go ahead.” Alex waves his hand for you to continue. Once you’re set up, you pull out your journal with your questions written in.

“Hey, Luke. That looks like your journal.” Bobby comments, making the lead singer smile. So far, he hasn’t said much and it’s putting you on edge. Especially as he’s the only band member who hasn’t followed your account. Maybe he hates what you’ve done online. Trying to ignore the doubt, you press record on the video and start to ask the questions.

“My final two questions were submitted as part of a contest I put out to my followers. First up from Ellie is ‘if you could give the others a tattoo, what would it be and where?” As you’d hoped, the response to this question is all four of them bursting into laughter as Reggie’s face lights up.

“I pick Luke and would definitely get my face across his back.” You laugh at his enthusiasm. “Maybe if I get him drunk enough, I could at least get my name somewhere.

“Dude, there is no way I will ever have your name, any of your names, tattooed on me.” Luke grinned at them. “I’d probably get Bobby a dick, on his forehead. Just because it would be hilarious.”

You know Bobby is known as a bit of a womaniser and you’ve heard rumblings in the fandom that he’s slept with fans after shows, but you keep quiet as the guys laugh. Bobby picks a rainbow for Alex and Alex picks a cowboy hat for Reggie.

“Okay, the final question is from Sarah and her son Henry. ‘If the zombie apocalypse hit, who would be the first to die.”

“Reggie.” Three out of the four spoke in unison making the bassist pout and you laugh.

“But, we’d try our best to save him.” Alex pipes up, smiling at his friend. “We’d at least try to stick together, but if it’s a choice between me and them, I’m picking me every time.”

“That’s me finished,” you stop the recording. “Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to sit with me. I really appreciate it.”

All four guys reassure you it’s been their pleasure and that they enjoyed the interview which pleases you as it took you almost six weeks to think of questions that they hadn’t been asked hundreds of times before.

“I’ll leave you guys to get ready for the show. I need a drink.” You stand after packing everything away and move toward the door to leave.

“Hey, Y/N.” Reggie’s voice calling your name makes you turn back to face them. “We put together a little goodie bag of merch for you as a thank you for all the work you’ve done in helping promote us here in the UK.”

“Oh, you didn’t need to do that.” You’re blown away and speechless. “I do it because I enjoy it.”

“And it keeps you out of trouble?” Bobby winks at you. Unsure how to react, you smile a little, positive it looks more like a grimace. You take the overflowing bag and clutch it in your hand.

“Hey, we need a selfie.” Alex says, pulling his phone out of his pocket. You suddenly find yourself between him and Luke, Alex’s arm slung over your shoulder and Luke’s hand resting on your waist. All you can feel is the head from his hand as you look at the camera Alex is holding out in front of you. Once he’s done, you take a deep breath, inhaling the aroma of Luke before stepping away.

Another round of thank yous and you leave the room and close the door behind you. Then realise you have no idea which way to go.

“Hey, you okay?” Luke’s voice makes you jump.

“Yeah, I just can’t remember the way out.” You’re embarrassed to admit, but you have to meet up with Carrie in the queue. She’d finally agreed to come to at least one of the shows with you, but only one.

“It’s a bit of a maze, here’ I’ll show you the way.” Luke falls into step beside you, his shoulder brushing yours in the narrow space.

“Thanks, you don’t need to do that.”

“It’s no problem, I’m on a drink run for the guys anyway, and the bar’s this way.” He shrugged, his shoulder once again brushing against yours.

“Well, thanks again. And for doing the interview, I hope it wasn’t too much of a chore.”

“Nah, it was fun. I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure what it was gonna be like at first, but you had some great questions.”

Silence fell and you start to feel awkward walking through the venue with a guy you’d crushed on from afar for well over a year. Eventually, the maze of corridors opened out into an area you recognised.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later, at the show I mean.” You feel like a complete idiot.

“Yeah, it should be a great show.” You give Luke a small wave and make your way towards the door where a member of the security gets ready to let you out.

“Y/N?” Luke calls out. You turn to look at him. “Do you want a drink?”

Stunned, you kind of freeze to the spot you’re standing in. After a moment, Luke mumbles something and turns to walk away.

“That would be great.” You call out, knowing Carrie would kill you if you said no. You return to Luke’s side and follow him into the space that would soon be filled with fans. The stage was set up with their instruments and you can’t help the shiver of excitement that goes through you.

“Are you cold?” Luke asks.

“No, I just had a chill.” Before you finish speaking, he’s pulled off the flannel shirt he’s wearing and handing it to you. “Honestly, there’s no need. I’ll be fine.”

“Y/N, take the damn shirt. It’s cold in here and you’re in a tank top.” He insists with a laugh.

“God, you’re pushy.” You snap at him playfully as you take the shirt and slide it on. It’s still warm from him wearing it and you resist the urge to bury your nose in it.

“What do you want to drink?”

“Just a beer is fine.” You pull some money out of your purse, but he waves it away as he hands over a card to the bartender.

As you take a sip of cold beer, your phone chirps with Carrie’s ringtone.

“Sorry, I have to take this.” You pull your phone out as Luke asks the bar tender to take three of the bottles to the rest of the band. “Hello?”

“Where are you? The doors are opening soon.” Carrie’s voice is almost drown out by the noise around her.

“I’m just finishing up, I’ll be out soon.”

“Was Luke as dreamy as-”

“I’ll be out as soon as I can. Bye.” You cut her off, worried Luke will hear her question and shove your phone away again. “Sorry, my friend’s in the queue. I really should get out there.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure.” You go to put your almost full bottle of beer on the bar. “Take that with you. You can’t waste good beer.” You laugh and slide the bottle into the sleeve of Luke’s shirt to hide it from the security staff as the two of you walk over to the door. “Hey, it was nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too.” The two of you lock eyes for a few minutes before you remember Carrie. “I… I better go. Break a leg tonight.”

Before he can answer, you’re outside with the door slamming closed behind you. You take a deep breath to try and calm your racing heart as you walk around the building to find Carrie.

:: ::

“Where did that come from?” She asks, pointing to the shirt, as soon as you join her. You look around to make sure no one’s listening. You don’t want to be overheard.

“It’s Luke’s.” You whisper, laughing as her eyes widen in shock. Even more when you pull the bottle of beer out from the sleeve and take a long drink from it.

“When we get inside, you are telling me everything. But especially how you came out of an interview with the lead singer’s clothes on.”

Before you can answer, a cheer goes up near the front of the queue as the doors open and security begin letting the fans in.

Slowly, as tickets are checked, the queue moves forward and you’re finally at the front. The security guy recognises you and gives you a smile as he lets you and Carrie inside.

The first stop is the cloakroom so you can check in your bag and the goodie bag the guys gave you after the interview. Then Carrie drags you to the bar and starts pumping you for answers.

“How did the interview go? What took so long? Why did you come out wearing Luke’s shirt and carrying a beer?”

“Woah, slow down.” You order a couple of shots for the two of you from the bartender who served Luke earlier. He waves away your money, explaining you’ve been added to the bar tab the guys have running to your surprise and Carrie’s giggles. “The interview went really well. The guys responded so well to my questions and I took a selfie with them. Oh, shit. The photo’s on Alex’s phone.”

“Oh, really?” Carrie raises an eyebrow at you.

“Do you want me to tell you or not?” You move away from the bar so no one can overhear you. When you’re certain you have some privacy, you fill her in on what happened after the interview ended.

“Holy shit, Y/N/ I think you’re in with a chance there.”

“Carrie, no. He’s a bonafide Rockstar, who lives like thousands of miles away. I’m a student from London. Don’t get carried away. He was just being friendly.”

“Oh, sure. Because all rockstars offer their shirts to fans and buy them a beer.” She looks at you, a weird look in her eye as she orders another round of drinks. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Trevor the tour manager walking toward you.

“Hey, Y/N. I was asked to give you this.” He hands you a slip of paper before melting away through the crowd toward the stage.

“What is it?” Carrie askes as you unfold it. Written in the hardest writing you’ve ever had to decipher is,

Meet me backstage after the show? Luke.

You don’t know what to think, but Carrie crows like a damn rooster, attracting attention from other fans around you.

“Just being friendly, huh?” She hip bumps you, “I’m coming with you to the other shows, I need to see this unfold with my very own eyes.

Read Part Two here

[graphicabyss]

Avalanche and the Fallout

So, last time I commented on Tegoshi’s tell-all book and now it’s released and the damage is done. Such an appropriate name seeing as avalanches are sudden and destroy everything in their path. As I read the book and the related news, I struggled with both the need to convey how I felt and stop giving him so much time and attention. Sure enough, I ended up with a long review/analysis/bitching post. It's rough and mean and very long so please read at your own risk.

Facts first. The book released on Aug 5 was originally supposed to run 10,000 copies but they reportedly increased it to 50,000 due to high demand. Tegoshi also held a press-conference to talk about it on release day. It ended up being one of the best-selling books on Amazon and top seller in Entertainment.

It’s hard to talk about the book briefly. It’s 270 pages long and I had absolutely no intention to read it all but still ended up reading a good deal and words just kept pouring out of me. I could not imagine how much this book would fuck me up. I knew it would be bad but honestly I was shocked about the publication because it’s both incredibly cruel to so many people and incredibly stupid as it’s going to severely damage his reputation and future career.

I won’t even try to pretend to be objective because there’s nothing objective about the book itself. It’s a book of unsolicited opinions. If there’s one word I’d to describe it it’s ‘delusional’. Every chapter reeks of vanity and a sense of superiority as he judges every single celebrity he came in contact with and gives plenty of advice. It's a mess of careless words hastily and haphazardly thrown together in an attempt to let the world know the Real Tegoshi.

Of course, that's not how he sees it. He mentions the likes of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates saying their books give people motivation and inspiration and he wanted to do the same. Bitch, you haven't done anything to get you on that level yet.

There’s a video on his channel where he goes to the publisher to talk about the book and while he says about sending an inspirational message, the publisher only wants him to talk about Yukirin and other juicy gossip. And it’s not like poor Tegoshi was tricked into it, he readily agreed to it and he knew full well what he was doing. The book’s cover does not advertise life advice, it advertises celebrity gossip. Also nudes, which by the way, turned out to be mere topless shots. Add false advertising to the list of offenses. He really gave Bunsun a run for their money discussing half his scandals and even adding some extra. He keeps saying he only wants to clear up the rumours but somehow ends up saying things that make absolutely no difference or even make him look worse. It's like if Bunshun said "Tegoshi was partying with 5 younger women, ran around naked and then passed out drunk" and Tegoshi would be like "That's not true! There were 4 women!"

He also said he absolutely could not hide how he truly felt. And that seems to make sense except it’s one thing to just be honest and reveal some of your relevant thoughts in a carefully worded manner. But this is another thing entirely. It’s some kind of emotional exhibitionism, a compulsory desire to share his every thought and opinion on everything and everyone. Dear, there is middle ground between hiding how you really feel and giving your every single opinion. That doesn't make you honest. It makes you an asshole.

The book is divided into small chapters and most are about NEWS, past and present members and related topics, as well as most other JE artists. Some chapters are about the women he had or did not have relations with. Some are about the people he admires and his delusional plans for the future. Only a small number of chapters do not mention any names and talk about his personal experiences and thoughts.

At this point, I do not even have all the scans but I have more than enough to go off the parts I read. First off, I am now allergic to the word ‘positive’ and the phrase ‘as a man’. What the fuck does that even mean? Also, a lot of the stuff he says in the book is not new in any way and was either said before or known through other sources or rumours. There are hardly any shocking revelations anywhere, at least if you were following him as closely as I have. But hearing all these terrible opinions at once is sure a treat.

Actually, he himself described it as whining and that seems accurate because he does that for a good portion of the book, explaining how unfairly he (and other people) was treated by the industry and the press. There are many stories of hardship and resilience. There’s the good old "I suffered so much when I wasn’t the center of attention for the first time in my life”. There’s the classic “The media spreads lies about me” and other familiar narratives. Also a few tragic stories of unfulfilled love.

And not all of it is horrible. In fact, there are a few parts that I could relate to, such as the terrible way Koyama had been treated when he had to resign from ‘every’, the strange limitations for idols and how excessively strict the rules of Japanese showbiz are. But by telling those stories and complaining about JE and Japan’s entertainment industry, he is not going to make a change. All he accomplished is make things harder for himself. Bringing up the names of many artists, especially those he doesn’t even know personally, and discussing their problems is incredibly rude, intrusive and potentially damaging. Yes, the rules of Japanese entertainment suck but see how much you can achieve going against them.

And I don't like JE and not going to defend it but bitching about JE in particular is unwise for two reasons: One - not only does he owe everything to it, NEWS is still in it and what’s bad for JE is bad for NEWS. Two - JE is very powerful and has immense influence in the industry so making them your enemy when your career barely started may lead to it ending prematurely. In the end, Tegoshi Yuya’s biggest obstacle to fame isn’t JE or media. It’s Tegoshi Yuya.

It is not an autobiography book so it doesn't start with childhood. Which is a pity because I was hoping to get a glimpse of how we got to this point. There are a few clues though. 

I can tell.

Perhaps the most important chapters are those connected to his leaving the band, his reasons and motivations and that shit made me livid. He basically says that one day he imagined how awesome his solo career would be and decided he was too good to be in NEWS and the world will fall at his feet at soon as he lets it. He literally says that when he had to stay home because of the Covid-19 pandemic, he realized that God sent him a sign saying “Quickly, leave the agency!”. The pandemic is serendipity. Fuck me.

I honestly expected that the part about NEWS members at least would be nothing but praise but it also left me with very mixed feelings. First, there's a chapter "What I Told the NEWS Members" and it sounds so solemn and inspirational like "Are you sure you didn't copy that from some drama or anime? Because people do not talk like that, especially after being hit with such news." I'd love to hear their side of the story. There's also a chapter calling the members his comrades and expressing his eternal gratitude. But it's pretty clear that's not really for the members, it's to appease the fans.

There are several more chapters about the members specifically. Tegoshi has to be perfectly honest so there’s evaluation of every member, as he positions himself as the best performer by default and tells some stories that he apparently seems to think necessary to share.

For instance, there’s his story of choosing to stay in NEWS in 2011 as he told Koyashige they were miles behind Tegomass and needed to improve their singing and dancing to not drag the band down. Wait, since when can Tegoshi dance? Also the time Massu could not get a certain song right and got unresponsive as Tegoshi kept poking his mistake, so Tegoshi went berserk and thrashed Massu's things.

There is also a whole chapter about Shige and it's so weird as a former biggest Tegoshige shipper. Before I'd be happy for all the praise. Sadly, at this point if Tegoshi praises you too much it's almost a little suspicious. The whole thing is basically Tegoshi deciding that Shige is his top choice as... a man? deciding he makes the best leader and entrusting him the band. "Take care of my NEWS, Kato!" he says at the end. Fuck this shit!

Also, whatever happened to “Shige-chan?” He has made no effort to spend time with Shige out of work. And you know, they used to hang out and go on trips together when they were younger but not in recent years as Tegoshi got 'cooler' friends. I mean, his and Shige's friends probably have a 20+ difference in IQ level but still... He also only read a few of his books and unlike Massu, he does read. Mostly shitty 'how to succeed' types. All of that speaks of remarkable disinterest in Shige's actual life and thoughts.

There are several more chapters regarding NEWS as a band and what he thinks they should do and it makes me furious just talking about it. You lost any right to decide the band's future when you left them high and dry, asshole. He also claims he loves NEWS so so much and even wears the tour T-shirts (impressive!) and sings their songs in karaoke and cries! (poor thing!) On top of that he can't wait to see the STORY tour and go to see it and also broadcast it on his Youtube and do a review.......... I can't with this shit. Let's move on.

He also analyzed former members, basically calling Ryo spineless and saying he and Pi should have left sooner if they had no interest being in the band. And that’s coming from someone who tried to leave what? 4 times at least? Yes. It turns out he wanted to leave the band in 2017, in addition to 2011 and 2013. The way I see it now, 4nin NEWS was a hostage situation where Tegoshi constantly threatened to leave and other members trying to keep him happy and make him stay. He knew he was important and he got away with all kind of shit, both within the band and the agency.

In a similar manner, he takes each JE group and artist and evaluates them - what's good about it and what’s not, who’s popular and capable, what the group needs to do and so on. It’s amazingly condescending. There’s even a whole part about wanting to unite NEWS and KAT-TUN. What the fuck? Who asked you? Go film your ugly wardrobe or something.

I bet Tegoshi is so obsessed with popularity and rankings that he sees numbers over every person's and groups’ heads. Not everything in the world can be ranked and measured in numbers. He also says there are many celebrities who fucked up and acted like divas but are still popular. Way to go! Except it seems you have mistaken the order. You should succeed first, then be a dick. Also bitch, you're not Lady Gaga.

One of the biggest reasons for the anger of fans, at least the Western ones, was the way he talked about the mental issues of the former King & Prince member Iwahashi Genki and SEXY ZONE member Matsushima Sou both of whom had to step back from the industry because of their panic attacks. Even though he intended to encourage them, he expressed a fundamental misunderstanding of how panic attacks work suggesting they just had to cheer up and stay positive.

There's a whole section where he talks about a dozen female celebrities, mostly idols and actresses, dedicating a whole chapter to each. Of course, only to ‘set the record straight’. Because that’s exactly how the rumours work, you know. Particularly old ones. You tell the whole story and they go away. It's disgusting. Female artists' whole careers depend on their pure image and being associated with him can easily end it.

He also speaks of the first three girls he dated, which all sound like huge and tragic love stories as he said he loved them so much he considered marrying them but they all actually happened when he was about 16 to 20 years and after turning 20 he hasn't had a single woman that he loved that much.

And then some parts are only about himself and they are things that one should really, really keep to oneself. Nobody needs to know you drink so hard you can’t get it up. The chapter's called "I have no interest in sex" but it should really be called "I have a drinking problem". I couldn’t help but remember the scandalous article that came out in 2017 where one of his 'girl friends' sold the story of their relationship with all unsightly intimate details. I chose to defend him at the time but now I’m not even sure I can blame her. Perhaps it should be viewed as whistle-blower insider info as she warned others of what they may expect. The chapter "I have easily over a 1000 female friends" says he has this many girl contacts all over Japan and overseas but they aren't what you think they are. He only had 10 girls who he considered girlfriends, those he met 1 on 1 with. I guess the rest he just fucked so that doesn't count. Now that I think about it, I feel like 99% of all the Bunshun articles were mostly accurate.

Speaking of which... There's also a chapter where he explains why he cried during Neverland tour and he explains it by the photo with the two cons from 2011. We all know that was just a small part of it and the far bigger reason was people exposing his private messages and leaking intimate photos and stories. So much for the whole truth. Also, he whines about his reputation being hurt by the photo but has a whole chapter praising the man called Horiemon who was imprisoned for securities fraud.

There's another major revelation that shows his character. He mentions several cases where he had hissy fits in the dressing rooms, actually throwing chairs and things. Of course, for important reasons - being frustrated and angry at terrible injustices. Such as Koyama being fired from ‘every’ or him losing some parts in ChumChum after his scandal. Also the fight with Massu back in 2010 when he threw Massu’s things on the floor... It’s horrible as it is but for Massu, knowing he freaks out if you so much as breathe on his things... What a bitch.

There are also some chapters about his delusions of becoming a worldwide phenomenon but he doesn't seem to have a real plan how to achieve it. There are his ideas that are all over the place. There's the bold "Creating a new mold of entertainment" so that's producing. There's Youtube stuff. There's creating a "Tegoshi village" with ex-TOKIO Yamaguchi. He just had to pick the most problematic of his senpai. And there's an actual chapter called "Expanding to China and US Simultaneously”? Also English lessons? That all sounds very impressive, hon, but all you did so far was piggybacking on other people's fame and work. His book sold largely due to scandals and other people's names. He had a solo concert with just his NEWS solos and cover versions. And he just released a video that is an exact replica of his ItteQ segment.

One question is: how is he so confident he'll succeed fast? Well, apart form the usual delusions of grandeur. One reason for his excessive confidence is having friends in high places. At one point he's casually namedropping Abe Shinzo and the First Lady who was supposedly expected to come to the Story tour. Tegoshi said he would invite both of them to his solo concert. Yeah, I'm sure they'll come, nothing controversial about that.

I can’t imagine how it’s going to go from here but I don’t know how anyone would still want to work with him. He fucked over people he worked with for 18 years, people he claims to love, in a heartbeat so what can a new partner expect?

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

As expected by literally everyone but Tegoshi, the book made an uproar and not in a good way, with fans and agencies enraged over his words about the artists. There were many articles calling this book 'exposé book', especially focusing on him using the real names of female celebrities. Some newspapers followed up with petty articles. My favourite is an article from Tokyo Sports that specifically dug up a story that was not in the book about the way he adamantly pursued a certain female idol trying to conquer her and culminating in doing a dogeza in front of her but she still rejected him saying "Zettai yada! I will be your girlfriend number what?". Her name is not revealed, which is unfortunate, I'd like to know who that queen is.

Not all feedback was bad, of course. According to this article, many men brought it and enjoyed it. I'm sure they did. Plenty of aspirational douchebags out there. Anyway. Many fans wrote to him long angry and very detailed letters. His social media accounts have been losing followers for the past several weeks.

Perhaps the strangest thing is that he seemed genuinely surprised that instead of praise for his courage and honesty he got anger and disapproval. It wouldn't happen if he got his head out of his ass and literally asked a single one of the people he wrote about what they thought of it. 

The feedback must have been very focused as the very next day he wrote a few posts on his Twitter and Instagram indicating his concern over the feedback. On Twitter, he used the word “yacchimatta ka” as in “I messed up, didn’t I?” though stylistically I read it as “whoopsie”. Then there were two Insta stories.

2020/08/06 Ah, I'm a little tired. I'm also human. (sometimes I whine)

2020/08/06 I don't bother with those who criticize me in whatever they do. But I can't stand to see my fans, whom I treasure like my life, leave. I'm sorry. From now on, I won't whine anymore.

"I whine sometimes?" Really? that's what you call a 272 pages tell-all book? Also "I won't whine anymore"?? You think pulling off shit like that and then saying "whoopsie" is enough? It got quiet for a few days and on Aug 10 there was the apology video, which was named "This is my first and last whining". Doubt it. He uses the word ‘弱音’ which has a somewhat vague meaning, using it in an apology video in that context is confusing. Why not call apology as it is? That seems like another politician’s technique.

The apology was impressive in a way. At least it was not a blanket apology, he (or his employees) correctly identified what exactly people were mad about. He said he was really sorry for hurting his fans and causing trouble to people he wrote about. He said he understood that he doesn't have to reveal everything. He also said that he felt the love behind the anger, that fans wrote to him because they cared and were disappointed. Also said he realized that he was protected till now. It was all pretty good right until the very end when he gave a loud 'TEI!' effectively ruining the effect.

Of course, it was good that he did that but I still don't think it even began to make up for all the shit he wrote. The apology would be an adequate step after a shitty Tweet, not a fucking book. Also, I feel like more than anything he just got scared of losing his fans, maybe even sorry for hurting their feelings but not really sorry for what he did. He has no plans to change his behaviour. He wants to be at his 100% assholeness and still be adored.

Of course thousands of merciful women turned to his defence because he looked 'so sad' and even 'thinner'. That's right! He's the real victim here. Must be terrible to hear such hard criticism for the things you actually said and did.

By now I'm barely even angry anymore and a part of me feels sorry for Tegoshi. He's like a dumb spoiled child who wreaks havoc. But I have to remind myself I should not feel sorry. He is in fact an adult man of 32 who is so used he always gets his way that even a minor opposition is viewed by him as a violation of his freedom. And his charm is the very reason he always got away with all the shit he did in life up to this point. I bet he is getting a lot of hate mail and I hope his positivity prepared him for it. I remember him calling Koyama in the middle of the night to come and comfort him while he cried. Also calling Shige to come only to fall asleep in his lap. Now he's on his own. God, right now I just really wish Tegoshi would send himself to the corner and thought about what he's done. Just step aside and shut up for 5 minutes.

But he isn't gonna do it. Of course not. He had a solo concert today and is doing Youtube videos and moving even faster so that people forget about the book.

But fans never will. I can't even say if the book changed my perception or just unveiled what I knew was there all along. For years I've been discarding and questioning all the bad rumours and stories telling myself "He didn't mean it" or "That can't be true" but now it all comes together like pieces of a puzzle, and there's no need to guess anymore because he's shouting "Oh yes I fucking did and I'll do it again!"

All in all, the book paints a picture of a man who is anything but Prince Charming. It chips away any remaining illusions of a 'perfect idol' showing someone who is vain, petty, and chauvinistic. Someone who is obsessed with status and popularity so much that he is willing to sacrifice everything for it and thinks it doesn't matter how bad your reputation is as long as you succeed. Someone who is the very epitome of toxic masculinity, drinks himself to oblivion and treats women like toys. And yet, somehow, I still find myself having to fight the strong urge deep inside of me that makes me want to like him.

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Love, Maybe? {42}

Chris Evans X Reader OFC Vixen Giovanni

Warning: Cursing, Heavy Angst

Word Count: 4.7K

Summary: After a night of drunkenness you wake up next to warm, hot as hell body, a migraine and no memory of the night before. When you come to realize that the hot body belongs to none other than Hollywood’s golden boy Chris Evans you freak out. As events unfold you become even more panicked to find out you got married in your drunken haze. What else is there to do but get it annulled, right? Before walking away, you share one more night of molten kisses and passion. Three years later you are still living with the repercussions of your brash decisions, but the surprises don’t stop there. The past has a way of coming back and have you questioning is this fate that you’ve been running from, hell could it have been love, maybe?

NOTE: **Italic texts is an inner Vixen thought. Bold Italic texts is an inner Chris thought. 

**Loosley Edited/Proofread**

Thank you guys for reading!!!! If you enjoyed this please LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG. 😊❤❤️

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 42:  Down With The Ship

-Vixen-

Thanks to how close opening night was you were busier than ever making sure things were perfect. You checked, double-checked and even triple checked everything, décor, menu, staff, vendors, setting, everything. You left nothing untouched by your meticulous eye and obsessive-compulsive attention. This meant you ate, slept and breathed your restaurant. You were up before sunrise out after breakfast with Ella, gone all day and not back until just before midnight. It was exhausting and you missed spending time with Ella but you were grateful for the distraction.

 Before you knew it two weeks had passed since your life imploded. Two weeks since the story of the decade broke. For those two weeks, you were hounded by paparazzi almost everywhere. You were now on their radar and they were learning your moves. You had to be extra careful not to lead them back home to Ella. When Ella went anywhere it was usually with Nexus who was more than happy to play mom. She said it was great practice which made you think that things with Anthony were getting even more serious.

 For the two weeks Chris called, but you ignored every one of them. What began as four or five calls a day dwindled to two then one. You still didn’t want to hear anything he had to say. You had way too much going on and you didn’t want to add to your plate. You took a meeting with Charmaine St. John to hear all she had to say then abruptly told her you didn’t want anything from him when she eluded you could get a “nice cut.” 

She looked shocked at that. Then when you went on to say you weren’t going to proceed with taking half of everything she almost fell out of her seat. It was clear she was used to dealing with jilted Hollywood wives who felt entitled no matter what and wanted to go down fighting. That wasn’t you. You just wanted peace and quiet. She prepared the paperwork and faxed it to you. It was paperwork you still held on to.

Ella’s inquiries about Chris increased. What was once or twice a day turned into three or four or even five. The numerous facetime calls you’d orchestrated between Ella and Chris didn’t even seem to have mattered. Every time Nex told you it broke you. This was the reason you were apprehensive to involve him in the first place; this was why you worked as hard as you did to keep everything strictly platonic and complication free. For all the work you attempted you’d ended up right where you didn’t want to be.

You heard the bell chime from your phone and checked it to find an email from Kassius. He’d sent the contract proposal from Food Network a few days ago for you to review and go over with your lawyer. When you did it was revealed that they were being very generous, more generous than you suspected they had been to other no-name chefs. 

According to Charmaine, they were offering an eighteen months contract for production of a cooking show with a twist that was creatively left up to you. Within the eighteen-month period, there were to be four episodes filmed a month, with smaller recordings they hoped to push for YouTube, and an extension review to be done at the end of the contract period. When it came down to money you were shocked by how many figures you saw. Charmaine told you it was very generous, but you should definitely leap on it.

 You were apprehensive because it was rare for them to offer this kind of money to some no-name chef. You suspected and worried that they were showing the “kindness” of their hearts because of everything that was going on and your newly ousted status as Chris Evans’ wife and baby mama. You suspected they wanted to capitalize on it, either way, it was a win/win for them.

 “What’s got you so far away?” Your mother approached and sat across from you. You sighed and shook your head.

 “Remember that deal with Food Network?”

 “Yes, we are all still incredibly proud of you, honey. My god, all your years of work, sleepless nights. I know it has been hard, harder than you let on and I am over the moon for your successes.” You felt the prick of tears. You knew she loved you, you knew she always had your best interest at heart, but this was so nice to hear her praise you rather than berate you for not having a boyfriend let alone a husband.

 “Thanks, mom.” Her smile was warm, as was her hand that rested atop yours.

 “The contract they sent over is—impressive. There is trying to woo someone to join you and then there is going all out. This is all out,” you explained.

 “That’s good, right? So, what’s wrong?”

 “I feel like it’s because I’m now linked to him. I feel like they’re willing to offer these things, this amount of money not because I’m me but because I’m close to him.”

 “I’m going to stop you right there Vixen. You are my daughter, you are smart, talented, willful, ambitious, strong and such a force to be reckoned with. You know everything and if you don’t you fake it till you make it. You have no idea how talented you really are. I do not doubt for a second that the reason you are seeing the fruits of your tireless labor now is because of that talent, ambition and grueling desire to make an amazing life for your family and Ella.” Your tears rolled down your face of their own accord.

 “Vixen, you are a star, that is the reason why your father and I gave you that name. Vixen to the American definition is fierce, fiery-tempered, and it was true. You cried twenty times louder and longer than any of the other babies, you were stubborn, quick to anger, and that temper ooh, it was hot but were you adorable.” She smiled bright which prompted your smile. You sniffled and dried your tears but they kept flowing.

 “Vixen also means female fox. You know I believe in every culture and take pieces where I feel a connection. Guess you can call it my way of keeping in touch with my gypsy spirit, something I think you inherited more so than Nexus. This beautiful free spirit that loathes being tied down, loathes being boxed in and caged like a gilded bird. You want to be free, so you keep running for that freedom. In Japanese culture, there is a creature called Kitsune, a powerful mythical creature with an abundance of intelligence and power. Their energy is bright, hence your middle name. Your name is no coincidence honey, it was destined for you. It is your time. You are here because of you and you alone. Reap those rewards unabashedly,” she finished.

 You could hear the conviction in her voice and see the pride coming off of her. It struck you. Nodding your head, you wiped your face and allowed her words to sink it.

 “It is your time.”

 You signed the contract and faxed it back to Kassius. You were filled with a mix of excitement, happiness, and sadness. You wanted to call him and tell him the good news, tell him about this exciting new thing in your life but you couldn’t. You also wanted to feel the happiness the event deserved but again, you couldn’t, not completely.

  -Chris-

“I cannot believe you would do this! I cannot believe you’d do something so stupid. On the list of stupid things you’ve done which is quite long, this is the stupidest.”

 He sighed and rubbed his face. He was tired of being reprimanded. This was round three with them and by them, he meant all of them. He was now sitting in his office in front of one of the biggest group video calls he’d done. On the screen was his mom, his sisters their significant others, his brother and his partner. It was a full house. He’d sat here for the last forty minutes as they each took a turn telling him what an idiot he was. He listened to it from every point of view, and no matter how he cut it he still felt like a dick.

 “Okay enough! Jesus Christ, I get it I screwed this up,” he shouted.

 “Baby brother, you did more than screwed it up. Ya’ fucked it up!”

 Everyone began talking over each other and none of it sounded any different than when they’d started.

 “Fa’ the love of God!” His shout was loud, and it echoed throughout the first floor of his home. It was loud enough for them to shut their mouths and hear his accent pop through. No one spoke for several long moments.

 “Look, I know what I did was wrong. I know I messed up. I know I should have done things differently. I have gone around it time and time again, I wish I could change what I did, go back and handle it differently. I’m sorry.”

 They still didn’t speak.

 “Chris. Getting past the fact that you lied to us about marrying her and then continued to lie when you realized you were still married. We all can see you’re in love with her, I don’t know how she hasn’t seen it,” Shana stated.

 He didn’t know it was that obvious. Thinking further, he’d practically told you how he felt, he just hadn’t said the words. You had to know.

 “You have to tell her how you actually feel Chris. I get it you’re scared and everything that comes along with it. I get it. At some point though in order to get what you want you have to go after it—or her.”

 He sighed. Somehow this had turned from a berating session to a counseling session.

 “Look, I know you all mean well, but—she hates me.”

 “She doesn’t hate you ya’ idiot. She’s hurt,” Carly informed in an annoyed tone. She then shook her head. “Chris you lied to her and honestly it is just the same as the lie she told. Neither of you are in the right. I get why she lied but you, I don’t get it. You lied to her and she feels stupid, she feels as if maybe you had an agenda. Like maybe you manipulated her and anything that was between you wasn’t real that it was just some figment of the situation that you ensured with your lie,” Carly finished.

 “I had no agenda. All I wanted was a little time to show her what could be there, here between us.”

 “You should have told her and gave her the choice. You took her choice away Chris. I get that rights and choices are huge with her especially seeing how independent she has been her entire life,” his mother simplified.

 He sighed and nodded. She was right. He took your choice just as you’d taken his. Everything he’d felt in the first initial days since you’d told him about Ella you were now feeling. He didn’t think about it in that light.

 “You have to be the one to fix this,” Shanna added.

 “I don’t think I can. She said that they were better off without me.”

 Scott made a “yikes” face, as did the rest of his siblings.

 “Well, you kinda deserve that one. Have you seen what the press are doing to her? Her entire life is plastered everywhere. Not even just her, but Ella’s too. She didn’t ask for this and certainly wasn’t prepared. Her privacy is gone. This blindsided her,” Shanna’s boyfriend enlightened. It was insight from someone like you, normal, away from the eye of the press.

“Regardless if she wants you or not, or if you think she wants you or not you have to make this right. You have to stop using that as a crutch. You have to take a chance, Chris. Don’t she and Ella deserve it?”

 There was the cincher, he thought. He was so used to getting what he wanted with little effort and work. He was now face to face with what he had to do, he had to put in the right kind of work.

  -Vixen-

“Very good Ella, I’m so proud of you. You read that so well.”

 She smiled widely and clapped her hands excitedly. You ruffled her soft curls then kissed her forehead.

 “Mama, I sweepy.”

 “Okay, let’s get the little princess to bed.” You stood, lifted her and carried her to her bedroom while softly singing her favorite lullaby.

 “Smile, though your heart is aching, smile even though it’s breaking. When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by. If you smile through your fears and sorrow. Smile and maybe tomorrow, you’ll see the sun come shining through. If you just smile.”

 By the time you made it to her bedroom, she was half asleep. You tucked her in and finished the lullaby while tracing gentle patterns on her scalp. It always did the trick and within a few minutes she was out like a light. You sat there for a few minutes more and just watched her sleep. When you felt like your tears would start you hopped in the shower and allowed it to clam your mind.

 You still had some work to do so you wrapped in your robe after your post-shower ritual and went down to your office and got lost in work. You didn’t know how long you were in there sipping wine and working but when you looked up you heard muffled voices. You stood and slowly walked down the hall. As you got closer you could make out whose voices you were hearing; your mother, Nexus and Chris.

 “I’m very sorry Mrs. Giovanni. There are no words or excuses I can give, and I am ashamed of my actions. I can assure you what I did was not an act of maliciousness or manipulation. I hope with time I can show you how sorry I am and earn your forgiveness,” he said.

 For a few seconds, there were no words, and you were sure that they’d fallen for it. How could they not? He was respectful, sounded sincere, charming and was laying it on thick as fuck. Then your mother spoke.

 “Chris, when I first met you I saw the kind of man you were through your eyes. I know you’re a good man, with good intentions. I know you love Ella and would do anything for her and Vixen. I have no doubt that this wasn’t malicious and I know you didn’t mean any harm.”

 “That doesn’t change that there was harm done, a lot of harm,” Nexus added. You slyly peeped around the corner and saw Nexus leaning on the wall with her arms crossed before her, she was the furthest from him. she was not happy. your mother, on the other hand, looked neutral.

 “You’re right I did cause harm.”

 “Chris, I know that you know what you did. I just don’t know why you did it. I don’t get it and you know what I don’t know if I want to get it. I believed in you, I was rooting for you and I kind of feel responsible for the pain my sister is in. She didn’t deserve to find any of this out through a tabloid show,” Nexus shouted with as low of a whisper as she could manage. You could tell she was angry.

 “You’re right, she didn’t deserve this, any of it. I’m sorry. I just—I want a chance to explain to her. I need to say some things to her.”

 You’d heard enough. Coming around the corner your mother was the first to see you.

 “Get out. There is nothing here for you,” you blurted out and you hoped you sounded believable.

 “Vixen, stop it,” your mother interrupted coming up to you. “The least you can do is hear him out.” Your jaw dropped.

 “The least? Excuse me?”

 “Vixen, this isn’t something that happened to you. You were at the altar with him, you married him the same way he married you. Yes, he wasn’t forthcoming about the status of that marriage, but your life isn’t about you anymore. You have a daughter, a little girl who will be affected by this. She is already affected. She asks for him. She deserves the two of you to get it together.”

 You were speechless. You had no idea she had it in her to be so bold about this. You also hated that she was right. Ella did deserve normalcy. Sighing you cross your arms and roll your eyes.

 “Fine.”

 “Are you sure?” Nexus approached you giving you an inquisitive look. You nodded assuring her you knew what you were doing although you had no idea what you were doing. “Okay. Just holler if you need me.” She gave you a quick hug and walked away with your mother trailing behind you.

 You didn’t look at him, instead, you walked away to the kitchen. You could feel him following you. Once you walked in you made a beeline for the freezer and took out the tequila bottle then filled a glass. You could feel his eyes on you, he didn’t speak, and you were quickly getting annoyed.

 “You better start because I didn’t fuck up.”

 “You’re right, I fucked up,” Chris admitted.

“No shit! You lied to me, Chris. For weeks. You orchestrated everything on the basis of that lie.”

 He rounded the island attempting to get closer. You evaded him and walked around to the opposite side. He stopped and raised his hands in the air. “That’s not true. Not entirely. When Sherman told me about the error and that we were still married I didn’t know what to think or do. I didn't know how to tell you. I was scared to tell you. I thought you'd insist we file and end things.”

 Pulling the glass from your lips you gulped down the liquid more quickly than you should have and felt the intensified burn. “So what! That is a stupid reason, Chris. That doesn’t matter,” you lashed out.

 “Of course it matters. I didn't want to lose you again!”

 The admission had you frozen just staring at him across the island. The words were pretty, but they were said to cover an ugly lie. You closed your eyes and refilled your glass and took another out to fill it. You then slide it across the island to him. There were almost two full minutes of silence. The two of you just sipped your drinks, well he sipped, you gulped. Then he spoke.

 “I’d spent months, years regretting how everything went down three years ago. Spent so many nights sitting up with a glass like this one just watching the ghosts of memories all around me. I spent so much time wishing I'd done things differently, wishing things had ended up differently. Then out of nowhere there you were and the minute I saw you everything I felt three years ago came back, everything I'd been trying to bury for three years came right back.”

 “None of this matters. You lied to me! You used this lie to your advantage. None of it was real. None of it was true.”

 The words stung you even more. The realization that this was reality, that everything over the last few weeks wasn’t anything real. You felt the tears and you tried so hard to keep it in.

 “That's a lie and you know it Vixen.”

 He raised his voice at that point. Realizing his tone, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and slowly blew it out. You took another gulp.

 “This is what I know.” Another swig of tequila burned your throat before you spoke. 

“You said the worst shit to me three years ago, made me feel like a modern day   prostitute, like I was only worth what was between my legs; like that was all I was good for. That fucked me up, it fucked with me for years. Had me second guessing my worth, my value to a man, to you. So I got the hell out of there. Did I regret it? Sometimes, but for the most part no. Then I found out about Ella and I could have told you, I could have tracked you down, but I didn't. I was scared I didn't want to let you anywhere near again so you’d hurt me all over again. Part of me did want to stick it to you for what you did. I can be honest here and now. Then three years later you show up and you're charming and kind and everything you were three years ago, everything that I--then you kiss me and bring me to that lake and we--then San Francisco. You had so many chances to tell me the truth. You didn't.”

 “I should have. I tried to so many times. I tried the night you met my family, tried in the pool, tried the night in the backyard in Boston, I tried, and I did but you were asleep when I said it in San Francisco. Jesus Christ, I tried Vixen.”

 “Not hard enough. What you wanted one more romp in the hay to see if it was like old times?”

Again, Chris walked around the island to you. You backed up to the oversized fridge holding your arms out trying to keep him at bay. He ignored your hands and still approached, closing in. Walking away you were hoping to create distance between you, but he followed you.

 “What's not fair is you keeping this from me. Something that was important that mattered and I know I did the same thing so don’t pull that. 

 “I wanted time to show you how perfect we were for each other, for you to see that maybe things were the way they should have always been. God Vixen I've never felt this way about anyone before. I've never felt the things I feel for you, I never thought I could, but I do.”

 The tears were steadily approaching, your breakdown was coming. “You feel nothing it was an illusion; it was the sex.” You attempted to walk away again but Chris’ hand wrapped around your arm pulling you back to him.

 “I've been in love with you from the night I married you. I didn’t know it then; I didn’t know it until I saw you again. When I looked in your eyes and had you in front of me I knew exactly how I felt and seeing you with Ella--our daughter only made me fall more in love with you. You are such an amazing mother, such a kind person with a good heart. You are so damn ambitious and determined. I love that about you, love how genuine you are and how you have an incredible work ethic one that shows the kind of person you are. This was never about sex for me Vixen. It started with Ella, but it didn’t take long for me to realize I didn't just want her, I wanted you. I want to build a life with you and Ella, be by your side as you shatter that glass ceiling you are so damn close to shattering. I want to be your biggest fan and supporter, I want to grow with you, build something others could only dream of. I want to see you every morning, go to sleep beside you after tucking Ella in, I want family vacations, princess dress-up parties, trips to the lake, birthday parties, a family, brothers, and sisters for Ella. I--I want you Vixen. I love you.”

 Everything froze. He’d said the words. You thought you’d wanted to hear these words, thought if only he felt this way things would be so much easier. Now here they were. You thought you’d be happy or feel some sort of excitement but the only thing you felt was fear. You were filled with an abundance of fear, so much fear you couldn’t speak for several long moments. He stood there waiting for you to respond and each second that passed he looked as if he were unraveling.

 “I want to love you, Vix. Let me.” His voice was pleading, as were his eyes, it was like he was begging you. When his lips dropped to yours the only thing your body did was kiss him back with as much passion and desire that he kissed you. He pulled you closer to him and the heat from his body had you pressing against him trying to savor it. A moan escaped you then one came from him. In a matter of seconds, the kiss was quickly getting out of hand. You were getting lost in the moment despite your common sense. You were the one to pull away.

 “Until the day you wake up and want something else or don't want me anymore. The day you've finally gotten me out your system.” Your tears finally won as you expressed your deepest fear concerning him. Pressing your forehead to his chest you accepted defeat and cried allowing your fears and sorrow to seep out of every pore. You’d suppressed this cry because you feared you would never be able to stop.

 Somehow, you found your voice for words. “Chris I barely put myself back together last time. I have no idea how I did it, no idea how my heart healed I--I can't.”

 Somehow you got the words out through your tears. Somehow you were able to speak. You were scared to look at him, but you chanced it and immediately regretted it. Chris looked hurt. There was visible pain on his face and shining through his eyes. That only made you cry more. You put your forehead onto his chest again and breathed him in. When you felt his forehead on the top of your head you sobbed.  

 “Right.”

 “I swear I won’t stand in the way of you getting to be there for Ella. I promise I won’t be that woman. We will work something out that you can see her when you want. I just--.” Unable to finish you walked away toward your bag.

 “So you don’t want me?”

 “Chris--.” The question was blatant. You couldn’t lie about it. You also couldn’t say anything. The terror in you was at its peak and the truth was you were too scared.

 “You don’t feel what I feel?” You could feel him behind you. You wanted to turn to him and stare in his eyes but you knew if you did you couldn’t get through this. You were barely making it now. You reached into your purse and took out the folded papers.

 “Tell me Vixen. There is no way that you feel nothing; no way that all this time we’ve spent together, after everything we’ve done together meant nothing.”

 You try to keep a straight face, one that was arid of emotion that could give any indication just how much you were dying inside. The outward signs of that agony were your tears that continued to roll down your cheeks.

 Taking a deep breath, you pressed the papers to his chest. Debating inside yourself you kept your hand on them—on him. This was yet another time a war was being waged within you, brain, reality, freedom, safety, or heart, dreamland, complication, risk. Maybe you had a lot more of this gypsy spirit your mother spoke about, you thought.

 “I'm not strong enough, or brave enough. This won't end well.”

 After a long hesitation and endless internal debate, you pulled your hand away from his chest just as he gripped the papers. You still didn’t know if you were doing the right thing from your heart or from fear. Unable to look at him anymore you slinked past him and down the hall. You had no idea how you did it so gracefully, especially considering how shaky your legs were.

   -Chris-

 He couldn’t believe his eyes. The force of his realization of seeing this knocked the wind out of his lungs. He could hear the blood pumping in his ears, hear his heart pounding so loudly that there was no other sound that he heard. Divorce papers—signed divorce papers. He gripped the side of the island hoping to steady himself. More hurt than he’d ever felt in his life bombarded him. His hyperventilating came on quickly and impacted his other senses, his vision, his breathing, his scent, even his touch. This was his worse nightmare, the worst outcome.

 “It’s over. She doesn’t want me.”

 Acknowledging that out loud felt like ripping his heart out. It had been so long since he’d felt pain like this, it dated as far back as his childhood. Even then did not compare to now. He didn’t know how long he stood there, didn’t know if he could move, or speak for that matter. When he finally did move his limbs felt heavy as if he had fifty pounds of lead in his body. He couldn’t think but he sure felt everything. Digging in his pocket he took out his pen and pressed it to the paper on the island right next to the blank line for him. He wavered for a few moments but shook off the hesitation and signed his name on the line next to yours. Once complete he got the hell out there sparing not even a second to look back. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[mymelodyheart]

Starting Over Chapter 23 ~The Tale of the Night Part Two~

"What if I said I want to come to London with you, would that change your mind?"

Jamie stilled. What Claire had just said sounded like music to his ears. But that wasn't the point. The point was, he knew how much she hated the whole shenanigan that was happening beyond this room. Like him, she wasn't impressed with the limelight, the attention nor the glamour and wealth on display. He'd seen the discomfort in her demeanour and the distress in her eyes. And yet, here she was, despite knowing what it would mean for her to move to London, she was urging him to follow his dreams. There was no consideration for what she was signing herself up for or what she'd be giving up. She wasn't doing this for gain. She was doing this for him. Even though it was naive of her, he thought it was a selfless act on her part altogether, and it made him fall deeper in love with her.

Claire's shoulders had slumped the moment Forbes mentioned Dunsany's lucrative offer. Any other girls would have perked up at to the tune of a million-pound contract, but not his Sassenach. She'd probably thought he would have jumped at the offer or reasoned, it would be the only way he'd ever achieve his vision of building an academy. Perhaps that was true, but offers like this are designed to skew perspective and lure one to a false sense of security. He'd been there and done that and never again. In retrospective, although the endorsements and exposure in this industry made him wealthy enough to live comfortably, it hadn't given him any sense of fulfilment, and he knew neither would the offer from Dunsany. If there were going to be other strings attached to the job, besides tonight's pap walk with Geneva, the network and Forbes could shove the proposition up where the sun don't shine. 

But first, he needed to pick Claire's brain and find out in her own words, what she thought about living with him. She'd looked dubious the other day when he'd given her the key to his apartment.

She shifted on his lap, her arms still around his neck and her beautiful amber eyes taking in his expression. He felt her shiver despite the stifling warmth in the room and knew she was trying to put on a brave act. "Well, aren't you going to say anything?" she whispered, her lips ghosting over his.

He leaned in and captured her mouth for a brief kiss. And when he drew away, he held her eyes craving for that connection that made him whole. He wanted her to see all of him, the way he was seeing her. "I'm glad ye want to come to London with me, Sassenach. It would be good to stay away for a few days ...just us. There'd be nae work and nae one to bother us. We could stay at my place if ye wish. Perhaps once yer temp job is over?"

Claire pulled away, confusion marring her face. He tamped down the urge to chuckle. "A-a few days, but aren't we ...I don't get it ... Y-you have a place in London?"

He nipped her bottom lip, and she squeaked. He loved the little noises she made especially the ones when he took her by surprise. He couldn't wait to be in their hotel room and listen to the other sounds she'd make when he finally got her naked in bed. Smiling, he cupped the back of her neck, his thumb caressing the soft skin beneath. "Aye, I have a wee terraced house in Chelsea. One of the first thing I bought when I first started out in rugby. I thought it'd be an excellent investment, but I'd never got around to renting it out because I use it whenever I'm in London. More privacy when ye have yer own place, ye ken. But I have two other flats which I'm renting out. One in Knightsbridge and one in Mayfair."

"T-terraced house?? In Chelsea?" she stammered. "A single bedroom flat in Chelsea cost almost a million. And flats in Knightsbridge and Mayfair too?"

He shrugged, fascinated by the wisps of hair that had escaped from her perfectly styled up-do, his index finger unconsciously weaving in one of the loose curls. "It didnae cost as much back then. I bought the one in Chelsea six years ago after my ma advised me to invest in properties instead of leaving my money sitting in the bank. She reckoned London was a good bet to buy since the prices of the properties there are rarely affected by house market slump; hence, I could still sell it for profit even if there's a recession. I bought the other two with the money from endorsements. I'm glad I did now. A career in professional sport tends to be fairly short."

"Jamie!" she exclaimed, looking suddenly exasperated. "I'm happy you'd made some smart investment, but haven't you heard what I just said? I'm coming to London to live with you. Wasn't that what you wanted?"

He tucked a curl behind her ear. "I heard ye just fine, Sassenach. And I ..."

The door to the conference room suddenly opened, and Forbes strode in, not bothering to hide his annoyance at seeing them both wrapped in each other's arms. "Are you both mad? Anyone of the staff could have walked in here, seen you and all our hard PR work would have been for nought."

Claire jumped up to her feet and glared at Forbes. Mischievous thoughts overtook Jamie and wondered if there had been a vase in the room, would Claire have thrown it at Forbes? She had such a perfect aim last time she launched one at Frank. He would have loved to see a repeat performance.

"Well?" Jamie said, remaining seated and ignoring Forbes' diatribe as he tugged Claire's hand. "What did Dunsany say?"

Forbes impatiently took a sit opposite Jamie and clasped his hands over the table, warily eyeing Claire before shifting his focus on Jamie. "Okay, here is the deal and an excellent one at that - one that you can't refuse." Pleased with himself, he gave Jamie a smug smile. "Against all the odds, Dunsany still wants you on board, and he's adding an extra half-million to your contract. Conditions remain the same. And he says, he hopes the extra five hundred grand will ease the pain of the inconvenience. So what do you think? Ready to sign the contract?"

Jamie's face remained impassive as Claire pulled her hand away from his and walked to the nearest window. He purposely furrowed his brows at Forbes. "Umm ... Let me think about this for a second." Then clearing his throat, he leaned forward onto the table. "No."

Ignoring Claire's sharp intake of breath, Jamie watched his agent's face go from white as a sheet to beet red in a matter of a few seconds.

"No?" Forbes sputtered.

"Aye. I said no," Jamie replied firmly, feeling Claire's eyes boring into the back of his neck.

"Are you raving mad?" Forbes hissed. "Dunsany just offered you one and a half fucking million pounds. Am I missing something here?"

Jamie shrugged. "Seems like it. I showed interest in this job before the money came into the picture. As I recall, the job description was a sports commentator and analyst and weekend host for sports review. Now ... if I'd known right from the beginning, the job entailed parading myself as Geneva's boyfriend, I wouldnae have bothered. I told ye already on the phone, and I told ye out there, I wasnae interested. But ye were a persistent bugger. So much so, ...hats up to ye ...ye manage to play on Dunsany's desperation and increase the money for the contract." Jamie shook his head and let out a low laugh. "Ye have the power of persuasion, I must give ye that. And that's a special kind of talent. But for the love of God, Forbes, use it for something good. And if I were ye, I wouldnae touch Dunsany. Ye'll end up doing his dirty work."

"Fuck you, Fraser, you sanctimonious smug shit!" Forbes seethed. He gave Claire a dirty look. "Just 'cause ye're with that bird now, you think that makes you a better person? Will listen to me pal ... here's the news. You and I are the same. That's why we worked well together and made loads of money. Without me, you're nothing. In a month, you'll tire of her, and you'll drop her like a hot potato, just like with the other women in your life. You're never meant to be tied down, so don't kid yourself. A leopard never changes its spots." And then Forbes looked at Claire. "No offence love. I can see in your eyes you know deep down I'm speaking the truth."

Jamie tensed as he heard Claire gasped. He dared not look into her eyes, frightened of what he might see in them. He loved her so much and wished she didn't have to see the ugliness that had become him. "Ye're fired, Forbes," Jamie said in a low warning voice. "Now get the fuck out of here before I give you a reason to sue me for grievous bodily harm."

Forbes' mouth opened and shut like he was about to say something but changed his mind. Instead of speaking, he gave each of them one final glare before stalking out. Jamie hadn't realised he was trembling with rage until he felt Claire put her arms around him.

He turned to her and took her face in his hands. "Sassenach, I'm so sorry ye had to see that ...I -I dinnae want to be part of this circus show anymore. This isn't how I envisioned working for a sport's network ..."

She ran her hands over his chest. "And I'm sorry you're not going to have the job you wanted so much."

"But I'll have you ...weel, that's if ye'll still have me." He lowered his head and held his breath in anticipation of her reply, hoping Forbes' words hadn't changed her mind about him. He couldn't even count how many photos had been taken of him with some actress or model, and he was quite sure Claire had seen them all, even the ones where his tongue had been down their throats. He almost winced at the thought as shame gnawed into his guts.

"You have me, Jamie," she whispered, looking into his eyes with her heart wide open, pulling him in deeper. In as much as their relationship had started as a charade, he didn't know what he would have done if she'd decided she didn't want him anymore after Forbes reminded them of his old ways. He would have probably gone on his knees and begged.

When she stood on her tiptoes, he didn't wait for a second longer and kissed her. There was just the two of them, standing in the middle of the room in each other's arms, the glamourous event outside the furthest thing from his mind. She tilted her head, and his tongue slid deeper into her mouth. He'd told her already he loved her. But it wasn't enough. He wanted what they have now for keeps. 

Burning with the need to consume her, he gripped her waist and leaned his body over hers, forcing her to arch her back, and kissed her more desperately. He put everything he'd started to feel for her in those past few weeks into the kiss and gave it back to her. If they hadn't been clinging to each other, the way his world was spinning, the whole emotion of it all would have brought him down to his knees. She was giving him something he was desperate to have from her and only her, even though he hadn't realised he needed it, until now. His heart was ready to be hers if she wanted to take it for herself and keep it for an eternity.

When they finally drew apart for air, he stroked her cheek. "In all ways that matter, Sassenach, I want ye to know ye're my first," he said hoarsely, placing her hand over his heart. "And I want ye to be my last."

She pulled gently away, looking at him with that glazed look every time he kissed her and a little bit of surprise in her eyes. "And you were my first, Jamie."

He grinned, his heart feeling a lot lighter than he did when they first arrived. "While my brain is still functioning from that mind-blowing kiss, let's get out of here before I take ye here and now. We'll leave after I've done my duty presenting the award. We dinnae have to stay for dinner. Unless of course ..."

"I vote for having dinner in bed," she murmured in a soft voice, her eyes dancing mischievously.

He laughed out loud. "Good. Let's get this done and over with. I'm famished."

..........

"Are you nervous?" Claire asked him, looking down at the pamphlet on her lap. "You're up soon."

"I'm fine," Jamie replied, squeezing her hand. "I'm so glad ye're here."

"Where else would I be?" She leaned over to kiss his cheek and then wiped away the lipstick she'd left behind. "Did you write down your speech or are you just winging it?"

He turned her way and grinned. "No. I've not prepared anything. Talking about sports come naturally to me. I'll just say whatever comes to my head and I'll speak from the heart." Her distraction seemed to be working as his index finger stopped tapping nervously on his thigh.

"Uh-oh! Speak from the heart, you say? Should I be worried?" She glanced a few seats away from them and saw Geneva Dunsany curiously looking at them. And next to her was her father, William, staring straight ahead and looking rigid in his seat. He hadn't said a word when Jamie had greeted him earlier.

"No, nought to be worried about." His fingers played with hers. "I received a message from Jen earlier. She said the whole of Broch Mordha is watching us on TV." He leaned in closer and smiled. "The people from the village can't wait to meet ye. They think ye look like a movie star. And I'm inclined to agree."

She smiled at him and refocused her attention to the host, John Quincy Myers. He'd just finished telling a funny anecdote about rugby players during a friendly game between the Scottish and Welsh National team and was waiting for the audience to wind down from their enthusiastic response.

Once the audience had quietened down, John Quincy Myers proceeded and made eye contact with Jamie. "And speaking of rugby, we have a special guest to present one of the most important awards tonight. He is not just another pretty face, but also Scotland's national treasure and all-time sporting great." A few whistles went through the crowd. "Well known for his intense work ethic and dynamic physical style of play, he was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame twice, the youngest to ever captain the National team and hold the record for most international points in Scotland. In the Six Nations Tournament, he was named Player of the Tournament three years in the row and has the record for most tries scored by any centre. Here to present the Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports 2017, please welcome James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser."

The audience erupted in applause, and Jamie's picture from his early days in rugby started rolling in on the screen. Even though he wasn't receiving an award, Claire knew this was BBC's way of honouring Jamie's contribution to British sports.

"Jamie! You have to go up there," Claire laughed, nudging him with her hand and beaming at him.

He grinned and gave her a kiss before jogging up to the stage. She ignored the camera zooming in on her and centred her attention solely on Jamie.

He waited a long while before he could utter a word as the crowd continued to applaud and cheer him. He tapped on the microphone before he spoke. "Good evening, everyone!" 

The crowd whistled and hooted, but he raised his hand. It was quite apparent he was admired and respected despite what the articles had written about him in the tabloid papers.

"Thank you, BBC, for hosting this event," Jamie began. "And thank you for granting me this privilege to present this special award. It is an honour to be in a room full of dedicated and talented sportsmen and women, and to speak before the national audience." He turned to look at the host, who'd stepped aside to his left. "Hiya, Quincy, ol' mate, long time no see."

The host and the audience laughed.

Jamie cleared his throat. "Sports may often be deemed nothing more than a silly game, but they've played a significant role in our society. Being involved in sports isn't just about winning or training to become the next world record holder. It's so much bigger than that. It's about being a role model; it's about being professional, relatable and inspiring."

He held up the envelope in his hand, opened it and smiled. "And I am very excited to be the one to announce the Lifetime Achievement Award. As most of ye know, I was forced to prematurely retire from rugby, and I thought back then it was all over for me. The title Lifetime Achievement Award just reminded me that a career in sport doesn't mean I have to be a professional player to inspire. There are other avenues and ways to motivate people to be the very best of themselves and be a role model and still build a legacy for the sports that I love."

"The winner of this award is England's pride who specialised in multi-eventing disciplines in track and field. This person is a 2012 Olympic champion, a three-time world champion and a European champion. Today this person continues to inspire us through their new career as a sport's spokesperson for BBC and run their own health and fitness app. And to add to that, this dedicated person is a columnist for The Times newspaper, an ambassador for the Jaguar Academy of Sport and a patron of both the Sheffield Children's Hospital charity and Barrie Wells' sports foundation. Without further ado, may I present to ye the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award, the beautiful and talented Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill."

There was another deafening applause as Claire watched Jamie hugged and hand the award to the former athlete on stage. She was so proud of him, for the man he'd become and for the man he would one day be. And in her eyes, he'd won every freaking award that night. He spoke well, was concise and didn't ramble like most of his peers. He was right about being a natural when it came to talking about sports. UKSC had just missed an opportunity in the form of Jamie. Instead of seeing him for his talents, they had wanted to exploit him for their own gain. After Jamie returned to his seat, he gave her another kiss. "How did I do?"

"You were fabulous," she beamed, straightening his bowtie. "It was a perfect speech, and it packed a punch."

He took her hand and brought it up to his lips as he caught the camera zooming in on them again. "How about during the interval, we slip out of here?" He gave her one of his mysterious winks. "I remember ye saying something about dinner in bed."

Claire giggled and nodded in agreement.

Twenty minutes later, during the music interval, they slipped out and headed for their hotel.

..........

Jamie shoved their hotel room door open so hard, Claire thought it would slam into the wall. But Jamie didn't seem to care. He walked her backwards and kissed her again, her hands gripping him by his tux jacket, so she didn't fall. 

As soon as they were inside their room, he kicked the door closed and pressed her back against it. She was giddy and breathless, by his desperation, as well as her own. She wanted to gather time around them and live in these long moments of him pulling at her clothes. She loved how feral he became when he roughly tugged and unzipped until his fingers were able to push into places that made her squirm.

"Oh, Christ ...Jamie..." By now, he knew every single secret her of her body and each sweet spot and erogenous zone. He made all of them scream for his touch.

She moaned as the tension inside of her spun out of control. She impatiently tugged at Jamie's tux, his shirt, his pants. And he joined her, desperate to get their clothes out of the way.

"I love ye," he groaned, between short breaths. "By tomorrow, everyone will know ye're mine." He yanked down her panties, then his pants and boxers. "I need to show everyone ye're mine. And I'm yers."

He pressed her back into the wall and pulled a leg up to his hip. When he bent his knees and pushed inside her, everything she was feeling suddenly became too much. She clung unto his shoulders as his hot desperate kisses smothered her moans.

"Christ, Sassenach. All I could think of all night was this."

He moved in and out in slow, strong strokes, every thrust pulling her tighter. For the longest time, she hovered, impossibly high, just stretching and tightening, and squeezing her eyes shut as she fought to get enough breath.

"Ye ken ye ruined me the first time we made love, aye?" Jamie muttered, increasing his pace. "Look at me."

She couldn't. She was so close, and she wanted to hold on to that moment. 

"Sassenach, look at me."

With effort, she raised her head away from the wall and looked at him. His face, beautiful, flushed and glorious.

"Look at what ye do to me." He clenched his jaw as if he was trying to show her how she affected him. "Ye're everything to me, ye understand?"

He kissed her again, then he moved so fast and hard she couldn't hold off any longer. She screamed as the coiled tension snapped, and an intense orgasm crashed through her.

"Ah, fuuuck," Jamie muttered. He grunted, thrusting a few more times, his hands gripping her hips. Then he froze and groaned against the hot skin of her neck.

They stood there for a few minutes until their breaths evened out. When they could move again, they untangled themselves from their mess of half-removed clothing.

"Are ye hungry?" he asked, pressing soft kisses against her lips and neck. 

She ran her fingers through his hair, enjoying his warmth and closeness. "Famished."

"I'll order room service then."

She headed to the bathroom and cleaned herself. After a quick shower, she slipped into the bed. Jamie was not far behind after he ordered a light dinner and a bottle of champagne. He gathered her up in his arms and settled them under the covers while they waited for their room service. She felt his hands slid up and down her arms. 

Not too long after, she began to drift off to sleep, totally spent from the day's event.

..........

The next morning she woke up to the sound of her phone ringing and found Jamie's arms wrapped around her waist and his leg over her. She tried to ease herself away from him, but his arms tightened.

"No," he muttered, his voice clouded with sleep.

"Jamie, I need to answer the phone. It could be my uncle," she reasoned, squirming from his hold. It took a few seconds before he released her, turning on his back to display his glorious nakedness and his morning erection.  Ah, sweet mother of Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!

"Hurry back," he mumbled.

Oh, I will, don't you worry about that!  She quickly got out of bed and searched for her phone. It was on the table by the window next to their untouched dinner and unopened champagne they'd ordered last night. 

Damn!

Looking at her phone screen, she noticed it was Geillis. She swiped to take the call.

"This better be good," Claire whispered impatiently.

"Good morning to ye too, sunshine!" Geillis announced, cheerily. "Have ye seen the news?"

"Wot?"  Oh dear God!

"Ach, never mind ...obviously not. Ye're probably too busy since last night, shagging Jamie. I'll send ye two links in a text message. I willnae tell ye what it's about as I dinnae want to spoil the fun. Happy reading!"

Before Claire could answer, Geillis was already gone.  Bloody hell!   Before she could cuss some more, she received a notification from Geillis' text message.

Claire clicked on the first link Geillis sent and read the page where it took her to.

   SCOTLAND'S RUGBY ROMEO JAMES FRASER BRINGS RANDALL'S RUNAWAY BRIDE TO BRITISH SPORTS AWARD 

Just months ago, Scotland's former rugby star, James Fraser, 29 shocked his fans when he was rumoured to be suffering from depression. His injury from the previous year and early retirement from rugby had led to various personal problems, most notably alcoholism. While the rumours were never confirmed by his representative, some anonymous sources have verified the talks had all been true. 

However, in these photos from last night's British Sports Award, Fraser seemed to be a picture of health and happiness with his date and rumoured new girlfriend, Dr Claire Beauchamp, 28, the runaway bride of Edinburgh's Chief Consultant Dr Frank Randall. 

Although known for being notoriously private about his personal life, Fraser was openly affectionate with the English beauty in his arm. He seemed completely smitten with her, leaving a trail of broken hearts and angry responses among his female fans.

Beauchamp, who was previously engaged to Dr Frank Randall, refused to be interviewed but held hands with the handsome Scot throughout the evening.

Fraser and Beauchamp first sparked romance rumours a few weeks ago when a picture of them holding hands in a restaurant in Cullen, Scotland started to circulate in the social media. But the photo had been too grainy to be confirmed.

Friday night's display at the British Sports Award comes as a shock to many as Fraser has never been known to be in a serious relationship before, but was often linked to beautiful actresses and models, dubbing him as the Romeo of the sport's world. Witnesses claimed this could be the end of Fraser's bad-boy image, as more photos of them gazing lovingly at one another circulate the internet.

 Claire shrugged and clicked on the second link. And when she saw the headline as soon as the page opened up, she gasped. 

Oh, holy sweet bloody bleeding pickles! 

"Jamie!! Wake up!"

  JAMES FRASER DISAPPEARED WITH RUMOURED GIRLFRIEND BEFORE HE WAS ANNOUNCED BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE DECADE

[fablesrose]

Of Kings and Shadows XVII

Description: Y/n, a girl who seems to have found her calling. Being a SHIELD agent is like a dream come true. With a friendship starting to form with the Avengers, she’s the Queen of the world! What could go wrong?

Pairings: Avengers x reader, Loki x reader (eventually)

Notes: On Wattpad –> Here

Masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Say what now?" Tony rocked back and forth on his heels to his toes, growing impatient.

Fury slid the file towards him on his desk, "I need you to look for any weak spots on these machines so we can take them down easily on your next mission."

Tony visibly clenched and released his fists, trying to stay calm, "And what happened to looking for Y/n?"

Fury took a deep breath, knowing this was going to get messy, "I'm sorry, but it's been too long with no leads. That can't be our main focus anymore, we have more pressing matters to attend to."

"So you're just going to give up on her?!"

"No, Tony, but we have to accept that we might not find her. We have missions that we need executing and oh I don't know, taking down Hydra!"

Tony's face started to turn red, "All these people!" He pointed towards where Shield agents were working just down the hall, "are just expendable to you aren't they!? All just little pawns ready to be sacrificed for your little game!"

Fury slammed his hands on the desk, "I cared about her too Tony!" The room became eerily quiet, the only sound was heavy breathing. "She was a good agent, I just can't put all of my resources into finding her anymore."

Tony rubbed his face in his hand while nodding his head in understanding. He took a couple of steps towards the desk and slid the file into his hand. He said in a whisper, "I'll look this over, get it back to you soon as I can..." He turned back towards the door, head slightly bowed.

"Tony."

"Yes?" He didn't turn around, only tilting his head towards the director.

Fury opened a drawer, "It-- It's been checked for sensitive Shield information, so if you want to keep it for her..." He gently placed a phone on the desk, making sure to give Tony his space.

Tony turned back around slowly, eyes flickering from the phone to Fury who took a step back. He picked it up gently and gave it a quick once over. The case was worn, well used. There was a crack or two in the glass screen protector, but the phone itself was in good condition. He sucked his teeth for a moment before patting his hand and pointing at Fury with the phone. He didn't say anything, but neither of them needed to. He exited the office and closed the door behind him.

Once Fury was alone he sat heavily in his chair. He didn't know what he was going to do with them. They were already hard to keep under wraps but trying to get them to work now was going to be a nightmare. Fury wasn't sure if he should be glad that he got Tony done early on. He was sure the most vocal, but the others can be challenging in entirely worse and different ways. He sighed and leaned back in his chair, closing his eye, it was going to be a hard couple of weeks and Fury needed all the rest he could get.

The file stared at Tony, the metal shavings and oil residue leaving stains around the corners. He really should be working on it, but instead, the lovingly used smartphone in his hand was occupying his mind. He didn't know exactly what to do, even if he acted like it. If there was one thing he did know, however, it was technology. Tony made sure he had Jarvis back up all the information, the notes, the pictures, the music that she lived by.

Tony tried multiple times to open the file to review it, but he found himself picking up the smartphone again and again. He was puzzled at first as he was sure she had a passcode to keep us, snoopy people, out, but she didn't have one when Fury passed it over. Not that it would make much of a difference since both Tony and Natasha were skilled at hacking with Clint having somewhat of a hand for it. Tony wasn't sure what Loki's abilities were, but he wouldn't put it past him. The rest of the team didn't have the technical ability or desire to pry... on Y/n at least. He came to the conclusion that since Shield looked through it they took the passcode off.

He kept flipping through somewhat familiar pictures and smiling at the old songs.

He wasn't the only one who wasn't moving on from the loss.

Natasha kept hacking into Shield and into the compound. She found all the security tapes with Y/n on them. Both Tony and Fury knew about it, but once they saw what she was looking at they let her be. She kept watching the footage, sometimes freezing the frame to see her smiling face, other times watching some of the happy moments together over and over again. Tony sometimes joined her. Not in person, but he would tap into her hacking session and watch what memories she would dig up. She was rarely alone while watching the recordings. Clint would join her. They sat in silence, hearts aching in tune, what would have happened if they had never dragged her into their missions? What if they were never friends in the first place? Fortunately, or maybe less so, they knew they couldn't turn back time, and loss was not new to them. With how long she had been gone, all they could do was hope she was dead, or if she wasn't, that she hasn't been suffering.

Thor was having a hard time wrapping his head around how to cope. He knew she was gone, but his concept of loss seemed different than the others. Maybe it was because he was a god and he perceived time differently. Maybe he came to peace with it more easily, honor, bravery, a true warrior, all that jazz. Or maybe he just had more time and experience to learn to hide it better. Despite his jovial exterior, most seemed to forget that he was from outside of human understanding.

Bruce buried himself in his work. He didn't want to talk to anyone, and if he did talk about Y/n everyone noticed an unnatural color rising up his neck. She was always kind to him, even if they were on a different page most of the time. He would have to leave the compound more often then he used to, get some fresh air. Tony didn't comment or complain when Bruce requested a jet to take him to a deserted wasteland. Sometimes it's best to just let it out and heaven knows the consequences to him bottling up the tension.

Steve never claimed to be close to her. He never claimed to be coping either. He hid behind his veteran demeanor, his captain mask. Steve tried to fall into his formal numbness, going to his go-to, "she was a good soldier." That was, at least, until Tony snarled at him, "We are not soldiers!"

Loki made sure to tread carefully. He knew first hand how much she meant to the rest of them and the means they would go to defend her. He mellowed down the snark and even most of his presence for a while. He was well aware of how much he grated on the others. The rest of the team didn't look any closer at his behavior and just let him be. Loki wasn't sure if he was grateful for that or not.

They all hit a little harder, ran a little faster, and worked a little longer. Caution was thrown to the wind, while also being increased ten-fold. Every camera was double, triple checked to be operational. Battles started to look more bloody, more messy, but oh so more satisfying. Backs were covered like an ironclad, but their own defenses had holes.

They knew it couldn't last forever, wouldn't last forever. They had to move on. This wasn't the first time they had lost someone, far from it. They also knew it was going to be far from the last time. For now, they took pleasure in beating, bruising, breaking, cutting, killing, bleeding. They used their anger for a little chaotic good.

The faint click and sliding sound of the shop door opening caused Tony to raise his head. He finally opened the file and started to review it, but the phone was sitting delicately under his fingertips on the bench.

Loki walked in, his footsteps light, but his shoulders not so much. The tension grew in the room, both men could feel it. Both knew that something better be apocalyptic for Loki to disturb Tony. And that was usually the only time Loki even tried.

"What do you want?" Tony was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially when he noticed the submissive body language that was so much different than when he usually saw him, but after the meeting with Fury and the stirred emotions of looking through the phone, Loki was standing on thin ice.

Loki started picking at his palm, "I- I heard Fury allowed you to possess Y/n's phone."

"Yes?" There was no reason for Tony to be angry, yet, but everything was grating on his nerves anyway.

Loki could hear the strain in Tony's voice and how he was trying to hold back. He tried to not be bothersome, but there was nothing Loki could do better. His eyes found their way to the phone just under Tony's fingers and he gestured a hand towards it, "May I?"

"Why do you care?! Are you going to break it like you almost broke her, huh?!" Tony exploded, his voice echoed around the machinery making his loud voice sound even louder. Tony wasn't sure why he brought it up. They had all gotten past it. No one really held a grudge from it anymore. Tony tried to reel himself in, but it wasn't working very well. He felt his throat clench and his eyes started to sting. He didn't say anything else for fear of what would slip out.

Tony didn't notice that Loki was slouching slightly until he straightened himself. His submissive demeanor faded, but he didn't turn aggressive, yet. "Y/n defended me when she had the power to leave me be and get injured, maybe die. I had yet to repay that debt. She was kind to me despite what I did to her. I understand your emotional state is tender at the moment. My apologies, I will take my leave." He silently turned around and began to head for the door.

Tony swallowed both his emotions and his pride, "No, wait, Loki."

Loki turned to the side so he could converse with Tony.

"I... I'm sorry," he nodded his head to himself, not sure what else to say. He tapped the phone screen gently with one of his fingers, thinking. After a couple of seconds, he picked it up from off the table, he held it out to Loki, "Here, take it."

Loki hesitated for a moment, that soft body language returned when he carefully took the phone from Tony's hand. He looked it over slowly, holding it with both hands. He turned the phone on and noticed there was no password. His eyes flashed with a bit of confusion, but then softened when he was able to see what apps she had. Loki's finger hovered above the music app when he came to it. He looked back up at Tony who was watching him curiously, "She liked her music, did she not?"

Tony let out a huff, "Yeah, I guess she did."

Loki nodded distractedly. He didn't say anything else before exiting the room just as quietly as he entered.

Tony puffed his cheeks and slowly let out a big breath while releasing the tension in his body. He looked at the clean rectangle on the table where the phone once rested. He sighed and attempted to focus on the file that he got from Fury but with Loki's visit his mind returned to Y/n.

"Jarvis, double your efforts on searching for Y/n. I want you looking at everything, especially any Hydra communication we have access to. We have to pick up Shield's slack."

"Of course sir."

TAG LIST: 

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 52

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  We have a pretty fun chapter today, so I hope you all enjoy it.

Also, we have another cameo from a character who was submitted to the character contest. @dierotenixe, I hope you like it!

Speaking of, I am currently at 408 followers, which is mindblowing. I love you all and I appreciate every note I get on these chapters, especially the comments and reblogs. You each keep me going every single day with this story.

Alistair showed up, not bright-eyed but at least early the next morning to discuss the results of the festival. I was barely out of bed, stifling a yawn as I greeted him at the door and shooed him inside.  Not having been allowed entry on the one occasion he had previously ventured to my quarters, he glanced around as though cataloguing the contents. A snore erupting from the bedroom sent his attention whipping that direction with wide eyes.

“Coffee?” I offered calmly, refusing to be embarrassed or laugh at his incredulity.

“You allowed me inside your quarters while a gentleman caller is still here?” he hissed in reply. I took that as a yes and staggered toward the kitchen. “That is incredibly uncouth, Sophia. I expected better of you, at least.”

“Not a caller,” I yawned again, handing him a steaming mug. “They live here, and they don’t have to be on duty for another two hours.  Figured I’d let them sleep in.  It’s been a very eventful few days, they deserve it.”

He scowled at me in disdain. “You could have simply asked me to come back at another time.”

I waved his objections off, gesturing toward the armchair. “It’s fine, I swear. I would have still been in my pajamas, and GK and Lyric would have been here, most likely.  They usually swing by for a few hours if I’m going to be home alone all day.”

A particularly loud snore prompted a sleep-husked objection and a grunt before the snores got much quieter.  I ignored the eyebrows that threatened to leave Alistair’s face in favor of the ceiling and flicked open my data pad instead. “How did the numbers from yesterday look?”

“What? Seriously? You really expect me to just ignore – “

“Alistair,” I interrupted sternly.  “I told you I would be in my quarters, working, for the next several days. I don’t know what you expected, but you probably won’t find it.  I’m staying home so I can recover from handling the festival, which means I’m not getting primped for work, my partners will likely be here, and yes, one snores.”

“Partners? Plural?” he nearly shouted, redder than embarrassment could account for.

“Oh, bloody hell, you posh wanker,” Conor’s voice bellowed from the bedroom. “Some of us are sleeping!  Either pipe down, or feck off! Jesus…”

Instead of the reaction I expected, my assistant was immediately mollified. “Ah, well then.  Messers. MacMaoilir and Okima, I’m guessing?”

I quirked an eyebrow curiously. “Does it really matter?”

“I believe it quite matters.” He actually sounded offended. “Those two are clearly smitten with you, and good men, besides. I was worried you had some other dunderheads here.”

“You do realize it could have been a woman?”

“If a woman snored like that, I would have much graver concerns about you and your taste in partners, I assure you.  Such as a female what? A warthog, perhaps?  While we may no longer be on Earth, I do believe that is still illegal.  Or at the very least should be.”

“Well, then. Now that I have Uncle Alistair’s approval…”

“Bite your tongue.”

“Can we please work, now?” I begged wearily.

Getting down to business, Alistair provided a summary of the data he had spent the previous day reviewing.  Mostly, it confirmed the early reports: Overall, the festival had been a rousing success with minimal complaints reported.  The low-stimulation session was viewed highly favorably, with a note to include it in future events, accompanied by requests from those who had been able to attend a ship-wide social event for the first time.

Tyche’s suspicion about natto was partially confirmed, as well.  “Can you please explain to me why the food festival as resulted in a sudden increase in rotten soybeans from the food consoles?” Alistair asked, drily.

I shook my head and held up my hands. “For starters, they’re fermented, not rotten. Second, please tell me it is not programmed in the consoles under that term?”  I shut my eyes and mentally crossed my fingers in vain hope.

“Of course not,” he scoffed, prompting a whoosh of breath from me. “However, I was curious what dish was so popular, so I searched the database from Earth.”

“I think it ended up being the single most-popular dish we could track,” I admitted. “But it’s still decidedly not rotten.”  I always tried to be impartial to foods I didn’t like, and I was trying the hardest I could remember with what was decidedly my least favorite food.

“Fine. Controlled rot.”

I sighed and pinched my nose. “Lots of foods are fermented, Mr. Worthington, including several I am sure you quite enjoy.”

“Alcohol is not a food, Miss Reid.”

“Bread. Cheese. Sour cream. Yogurt,” I ticked off on my fingers. “Miso. Fish sauces. Kimchi. Just about any hot sauces or anything with vinegar…” I glanced at him pointedly.

“Bread is not fermented,” he grumbled.

Behind us, a sleepy voice interjected. “Leavened bread is, especially sourdough.”  I turned to see Maverick scratching his bare chest and stretching, his hair sticking out at angles from sleep.  “Was the natto really popular enough to make it into a report?”  Without asking, he gathered our coffee mugs and shuffled off to the kitchen to refill them.  When he returned, he had one for himself. “Besides, you left out pickles.”  He dropped a kiss on top of my head before collapsing on the couch next to me.

“It was either that popular, or that disgusting,” Alistair confirmed before taking a grateful sip of hot caffeinated heaven. “Either way, people are requesting enough that poor Noah has asked if we need their services to augment the atmospheric scrubbers.”

“People could be using it for pranks,” Maverick warned as he slung an arm around my shoulders. “Granted, some people probably actually like it, but still.”

I wrinkled my nose and thought for a minute. “If that’s the case, I’ll suggest to Xiomara that we check the sensors to identify who did it and make them eat the stuff.  Not a fresh server of it, the actual server they used for the prank.”

“She would never agree to it,” Alistair warned.

“Au contraire,” I smirked. “She likes the taste but hates the smell. And the medbay can fix food poisoning. To her, it would be a very solid case of the punishment fitting the crime.”

Hands flung in the air with exasperation, my assistant surrendered. “If you get that policy passed by the Council, I will…” He thought for a moment. “I will learn to swim.”

“From the mermaid,” I insisted, inciting a yelp from Maverick.  How Conor was still asleep, I had no idea.

“Fine. From the mermaid,” Alistair agreed, sticking his hand to shake.

Laughing, I shook my head and took it. Maverick shook me slightly. “What mermaid? I thought mermaids were made-up. Please tell me they’re real. I wanna see one.”

“Kinda real?” I hedged, glancing at him. “Nixe is the beginners’ diving and swimming instructor.  I don’t know what happened to her before coming on the ship, but her file shows she suffered an incredibly significant brain trauma. Like, she should be dead kind of serious.  Our best guess is that she was a professional mermaid performer at some point, because she has an amazingly detailed memory of a life that didn’t exist and a swimming tail that ended up being some of the most expensive nanotech anyone on the ship has ever touched, let alone seen.  Even Noah was somewhat impressed by it.”

“That’s sad but kinda cool,” Maverick admitted, only slightly disappointed.

Alistair scoffed before ending up on the receiving end of my best death-glare. “And she’s nice and patient,” I asserted, somewhat angrily.

“She’s barmy,” he argued.

“And I don’t care,” I ground out. “She is on this ship, so she needed a task.  Teaching swimming makes her feel useful, and she is incredibly. Good. At. It. Grey and Noah cleared her psych eval – she’s no crazier than anyone else on this ship.  And anyone who can swim in over forty pounds of gold gets an automatic lifeguard certification from anyone on this ship who can swim.  Believe me, I ask frequently.”

Alistair opened his mouth to respond, but discovered one of the virtues of having a conversation that included Maverick. “Wait – how much weight? And gold?” my partner asked, astonished.

“Forty pounds,” I confirmed. “They’re actually diving weights, but tests show they really are solid gold. And they could be made of paper for all that they slow her down.”

“She could at least have her memories restored,” Alistair begged, trying to get me to see his version of reason.  Before I could snap a response, Alistair’s gaze snapped up over my shoulder on the opposite side from Maverick.  Apparently Conor hadn’t been able to sleep through our argument.

“They can’t be restored,” he stated, quietly but factually. “Asked Grey about it once, Charly did. The brain tissue was regrown, but without an exact scan of her brain – down to the molecules – those memories are gone.”

“But Miss Reid has her full memories from before she was attacked,” the argument came.

“Cause our brains are scanned every sixty seconds we are on board,” was the response. “Only exception is when we’re asleep or bathing.”  Maverick squeezed my shoulder at hearing this, before grabbing Conor’s hand to reassure him.  It was still, and probably would always be, a sensitive topic.  “On top of that, we are constantly being healed of minor ailments and even aging.”

That was news, even to me.  I chanced a crick in my neck to look up at him. “Why aging?”

He stared down at me, pointedly.  When I still did not understand, Alistair gasped softly. “Children,” he nearly whispered. “So there are people who can carry and raise children.”

I swore under my breath at my stupidity. “Of course,” I groaned. “With the exception of Derek, everyone on board is old enough that we would be largely middle-age by the time we reached the colony.  Hell, a lot of us already are.”  I tapped my knuckles on my lips, brain firing on all six processors to calculate the impacts.  Absentmindedly, I handed Conor my coffee and ignored Alistair’s curious glance as I heard it gulped down before footsteps headed to refill it. “Do we know how much of the aging is being ‘healed’?  Are we staying at the age we were when we came on board, or are we getting younger?”

“I’m not sure,” Conor admitted as he walked back in and returned my mug, shoving me and Maverick over so he could sit in his usual spot. “Noah?” he called out. He didn’t ask the question on our minds, as we were all aware that Noah was listening to everything in my quarters.

“Good Morning, Conor,” was the reply. “To answer your implied question, any environmental factors that cause humans to grow old are consistently being repaired, along with damage due to cellular senescence.”

“How?” I asked. I was absolutely floored.  Human…. Terran scientists had been trying to figure that out since recorded history.

“Food and drink additives to limit telomere shortening, along with therapeutic chemicals in the bathing system,” was the slightly chagrined reply. “Everyone brought on the ship was treated for progerial genetics and non-superficial environmental damage that would lead to premature aging.”

“Are we getting younger?” Maverick whispered.  Given his childhood and mine, I couldn’t blame him for the fear in his voice, and squeezed him back just as hard as he grasped me.

“Only marginally,” Miys clarified. “By the time we reach the colony planet, only five Terran revolutions of aging should be reversed from when we left your planet.”

To my surprise, Maverick looked horrified. “Noah.  Does that apply to every person on the Ark?”

“Only those who are outside of their maturing period.”

“So, not any humans who were under the age of twenty…five?” Alistair ventured suspiciously, seeming to pick up on what Maverick was suggesting.

“No, Administrator Worthington.  Only humans whose aging exceeded the equivalent of thirty Terran revolutions of standard aging are provided telometric and progerial treatments.”

“Thank you, Noah,” Maverick sighed, running his free hand through his hair and nodding at my assistant.  “And thank you.”  To myself and and Conor, he clarified. “Derek is only seventeen. Sam is not even thirty, and Zach is twenty-six.  It wouldn’t be fair for them to barely get out of puberty – or in Derek’s case, stare down the end of it – and have to go back.  Can you imagine?”

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[duggardata]

So...  When Did Trace + Chaney Start Courting?

So...  Trace + Chaney are apparently courting.  At this point, we seriously need some concrete dates for their relationship.  Right now, we’ve got zilch...  or, do we?  After a thorough review of all relevant Instagrams, I think I’ve got enough for a few data–based estimates.  Here is my best guess for their First Meeting, Pre–Courtship, and Courtship dates—

First Meeting

Trace + Chaney met 8 Months Ago, as of September 2019.  (This was reported by In Touch, when they announced that Trace + Chaney were “officially dating.”  It was also confirmed by Trace when, on September 11, 2019, he posted on IG:  “It has been a great 8 Months getting to know this beautiful girl [Chaney].”)

We also know that Trace met Chaney during a ski trip, because Kelly Jo Bates told us so in her ‘Happy Birthday’ IG Post to Chaney.  Kelly wrote, in that Post:  “I’m grateful God let our paths cross on that cold, winters wonderland ski trip.” A few days later, In Touch added that the trip in question was to Colorado.  On Instagram, Trace, Lawson, and Kelly Jo all posted about the trip.  Kelly actually tagged Chaney’s older sister, Chelsea Kahle, in her Post, thanked Chelsea “for taking pictures for us,” and said:  “It was a joy to meet your sweet family!”  

After some sleuthing, here’s what I was able to dig up about the exact timing of the Bates and Kahle trips—

The Bateses were in Colorado on (and around) January 10, 2019.  (They recorded the January 10, 2019 Live Chat at what appeared to be a cabin or ski house, and they mentioned that they were in Colorado, skiing.)

Bethany Kahle got engaged to her now–husband, Trenton, on January 9, 2019 in Granby, Colorado, a ski area.  (Duggar Data found this fact on the couple’s public wedding website.  Trace + Chaney attended the wedding, as well.  They both posted photos from the wedding on IG.)

Based on this Post on Chelsea Kahle’s Instagram, the Kahles might have left Colorado on January 13, 2019 (May 21, 2019 — 128 Days).  (Note—Chelsea’s IG is public.)

Since they met “8 Months Ago” in September 2019, Trace + Chaney must have met in January 2019.  While we don’t know the exact date, my sleuthing shows that the Bateses were in Colorado on (and around) January 10, while the Kahles were likely in Colorado on (and around) January 9–13.  Put differently:  We have evidence placing both families in Colorado on January 10, 2019.  That is what I will use for Trace + Chaney’s Estimated First Meeting date.

Pre–Courtship

Pre–Courtship is sort of a nebulous concept, but it’s clear that Trace + Chaney were ‘special friends’ by the Bates Family’s 2019 “I Love You Day” party.  (See Bringing Up Bates (9–19–19), “A Very Medieval ‘I Love You’ Day.”)  If Instagram can be trusted, that party occurred on (or about) February 17, 2019.  Since we know they were ‘special friends’ by then, that’ll be Trace + Chaney’s Estimated Pre–Courtship start date, until and unless better data becomes available.

Note that, thus far, your typical Bates announces a pre–courtship after about 6 Months (196 Days).  If the September 11, 2019 In Touch article was intended to announce Trace + Chaney’s pre–courtship (as opposed to courtship), it fits well with a February start date.  (September 11, 2019 — 196 Days = February 27.)

Courtship

This is the tricky one...  According to Kelly Bates, Trace + Chaney are courting.  She said so on the September 19, 2019 Bates Family Live Chat...  Specifically, she said:  “Trace just started courting.”  But what does that mean?  And, does that mean the In Touch article was actually a courtship announcement?  It’s all very confusing.  Let’s see if the data helps...

So far, the typical Bates waits 47 Days to publicly announce a courtship.  If the In Touch article was actually a courtship announcement, then perhaps Trace + Chaney’s courtship began 47 Days Prior, on July 26, 2019.

Alternately, the Predictor assumes a Bates–typical length pre–courtship before the ‘courtposal.’  Currently, it’s Bates–typical to pre–court for 301 Days.  If they started pre–courting on February 17, 2019, that data suggests the ‘courtposal’ would occur December 15, 2019.

... and that won’t work.  Apparently, they’re already courting!  So, maybe their relationship is moving at a faster pace (Average – 1 SD).  If that’s the case, the pre–courtship would only last 118 Days.  If it began on February 17, 2019, the courtposal might’ve occurred on June 15, 2019.

Honestly, it’s kind of creepy...  That’s actually the date I suspected, after taking a hard look at all the Instagram evidence.  Chaney posted a really suspicious–looking photo of her and Trace and a romantic sunset on June 15, 2019.  (Yes, that exact date.  Wild, right?)  Photos of Trace + Chaney really increased after that, too, as did instances where they were ‘confirmed’ as a couple.  Here’s an overly–detailed timeline—

6–15–19   Chaney posts a photo of her and Trace enjoying a sunset.  It’s met with many unsolicited “congratulations” by commenters assuming a courtposal.  Also, several Bateses commented on it.  Trace said:  “That’s one sunset I’ll never forget.”  Alyssa said:  “Y’all are perfect!”  Plus, Kelly Jo, Whitney, Katie, and Josie all commented approvingly.

6–16–19   Trace posts on IG that his “Sundays are brighter with [Chaney] in them.”

6–25–19   The Bates Family IG posts photos from a recent trip to Waco, TX.  Kelly gives a ‘photo credit’ to Chelsea Kahle, clearly indicating that the Bateses saw the Kahles during that trip.  (The Kahles live in Texas.)

7–2–19   A photo of Trace + Chaney at Chuck E. Cheese appears on the Bates Family IG.

7–6–19   Whitney posts a photo of Trace + Chaney at the Bates Family’s July 4th party in South Carolina.

7–11–19   Bates Sister Boutique refers to Chaney as “Trace’s girlfriend,” when asked (via comment) if she is dating a Bates.

8–10–19   Trace accompanies Chaney to her sister’s wedding in Texas. 

8–18–19   The Bates Family IG posts a photo of Trace + Chaney coupled up at yet another wedding (Abby Paine’s).

9–9–19   Kelly Jo wishes Chaney a ‘happy birthday’ on IG, saying:  “I’m looking forward to many more visits with you....  I’m sure Trace seconds that idea!”

9–11–19    In Touch exclusively reveals that Trace + Chaney are “dating.”

9–11–19   Trace posts a photo of him and Chaney on IG, and says:  “It’s been a great eight months getting to know this beautiful girl.”

9–19–19   On the Bates Family Live Chat, Kelly says:  “Trace just started courting.”  (Trace wasn’t present on the Live Chat.)  She didn’t say when the courtship began, or give any other details.

TL;DR

For now, Duggar Data will use the following dates for Trace + Chaney...

First Meeting   January 10, 2019

Pre–Courting   February 17, 2019

Courting   June 15, 2019

All of these are estimates, especially the courtposal date.  We really don’t have much data to go on for these two!  I’m hoping more comes out on this season of Bringing Up Bates.

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[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael After Midnight: Duke Nukem Forever

I like to kick off each new year with a truly magical review. Remember when I kicked off 2018 by reviewing a Jesus porno? Let’s be real, I peaked with that one. I’m not even gonna try to top it. What I will do, however, is talk about something I’ve wanted to discuss for a long time: Duke Nukem Forever.

This game almost needs no introduction; its stay in development hell and its tumultuous development is the stuff of legends, second only to Half-Life 3 in infamy among gaming vaporware. And it somehow managed to stay in infamy because despite releasing, UNLIKE Half-Life 3, most people who bought it really wished that it hadn’t. It turned out Duke was in the oven a bit too long, and the game we got was a mediocre shooter that was already out of date by several years when it finally released, not helped by its potshots at better series and use of extremely dated memes (Leeroy Jenkins? Really?). 

Thankfully, I was divorced from this decade-spanning drama, being barely aware of the game until a few years back. Being a fan of Duke as a character - he is a loving spoof of the kind of action heroes I enjoy after all - and curious about the game after reading the fascinating history behind its development, I ended up playing it and… I thought it was okay. Yeah, I was expecting a lot more from this game in either direction, but it ended up being a rather middling, decent experience.

So let’s talk about what’s unironically good first: the interactivity. There are a LOT of little things Duke can interact with around the world, from a whiteboard you can doodle on to a functional pinball machine. None of this is groundbreaking by any means, but there is a certain childish thrill from picking up a turd from a toilet and flinging it around or from smacking some alien wall titties. There’s even an enjoyable dream sequence where Dukeis at a club that has tons of interactive elements in it! The fact that a lot of these interactive elements can lead to increases in Duke’s health is an added incentive to spend time doing them.

I actually enjoy some of the level design in the first half of the game, in particular the segments where Duke is shrunk down. I don’t know about you guys, but there’s something I really find charming about hopping over fryers and climbing through conveniently placed holes in the walls of a shitty fast food joint. It’s the sort of stuff I imagine when I’m bored at work. If the whole game had been as creative and fun as these parts and had expanded on the interactivity more, I think this would have been worth the wait a bit more… but unfortunately there’s more to this game.

After the first couple of segments, the level design plummets. The portions where Duke has to drive through the desert are especially jarring as they are incredibly barren with little to do or discover. This is then taken to the opposite extreme when you get to the final area, the dam, which is downright labyrinthine at parts and absurdly difficult. You will likely not die any place more than in this level due to the ridiculous number of enemies they cram into the tight corridors and underwater sections. It makes you wonder if this area was made so difficult to hide how short the game is - things wrap up after the dam level ends, with one ridiculously easy final boss left once you escape.

Then again, you may be thanking your lucky stars this game is mercifully short, because Duke and the world he inhabits are pretty intolerable. The entire world has become a monument to Duke’s ego, with just about everything revolving around him. Duke is like a Mary Sue escapist fantasy - a huge macho man who kicks ass, takes names, gets blowjobs from twins and his genderbent counterpart (apparently it is Bombshell’s model behind the glory hole in Duke’s dream, so he can literally go fuck himself), and is adored by literally everyone. And yeah, Duke was always kind of like this… but somewhere along the game’s journey somebody forgot that the tongue of the writers is supposed to be firmly planted in their cheek. The issue here is that the game is taking everything about Duke DEAD SERIOUS. We’re supposed to see Duke as the supreme god-tier badass who makes Master Chief and Gordon Freeman look like pussies, but it’s hard to buy into that idea when we are only told this while playing as him is just an unfun chore.

And maybe this would be better if they had polished up Duke’s character a bit, but he’s really inconsistent. Jon St. John is still absolutely fantastic with the voice and the delivery, there’s no denying that, but he unfortunately is portraying a really lame iteration of this beloved character. I think the point where I lost faith in this Duke is when, after finding the blowjob twins trapped in alien cocoons and begging him for help, Duke’s response is to just tell them they’re fucked. This is in stark contrast to him going apeshit when the aliens stole his babes, and is yet another sign the writers just didn’t GET Duke. Duke is an overly-macho chauvinist, yes, but he DOES care about babes. He’s more Johnny Bravo, less conservative pro-life blogger. Here though? This is just an uncharacteristically misogynistic response, and it is never commented on again. It’s just so jarring and bad that it kind of hampered my enjoyment of the game.

Still though, there is something halfway charming buried under the garbage. There are flashes of fun here and there that show promise of a better game, but they are always ultimately crushed. I feel if this game had come out in a more timely fashion with the innovations it does have, it would be considered revolutionary, but alas, we don’t live in that world. Half-Life 2, Halo, BioShock, and countless other franchises came and redefined what an FPS could be while this game was floundering between studios, leaving it so that when this game finally dropped, there really wasn’t anything special about it save for its protagonist, who himself felt like a relic from a bygone age who had become in earnest the very thing he once parodied so effectively. 

It’s hard to really recommend this game; even among first-person shooters, which tend to age like milk, this game has aged very poorly. If you’re curious about it like I was, well, there are worse things to pull out of a bargain bin; the game is dirt cheap on most consoles. Generally speaking though I’d say just get the equally cheap yet infinitely better Duke Nukem 3D; it’s frankly amazing how much better that game has aged despite it being a game released in the wake of the original Doom. 

What the future holds for Duke is rather unclear; at the end of this game he says he’s gonna run for President, but I dunno, the idea of an overly macho, violent, misogynistic celebrity becoming president is pretty far-fetched, riiiiiiiiiiight? Let’s not end this on a depressing note that reminds us of the bottomless stupidity of American politics, though. Let me tell you the one genuinely good thing this game brought to the world:

I brought the cover insert of the game to be signed by Jon St. John at a convention, and when I presented it he said in a tone that clearly was used to being dunked on for the game “Be honest, what did you think of the game?” And I told him, “There were a couple parts I didn’t like, but overall I thought it was fun,” and the guy just lit up. It just made me really happy that someone liking this dumb game brightened his day like that, and honestly? It wasn't a lie. I did have fun with this game, despite its flaws, and if it let me brighten the game’s star’s day by saying I enjoyed it even a little, I’m glad it exists.

[walkerismychoice]

I saw your comment on the 3 LI’s Nonny... you’re faulting Liam for falling in love and “breaking the rules” (totally agree with you on the mistress part) but Drake does more than just complain and be too sarcastic... He has a CONSTANT pity party for himself, he can’t even express his feelings, not to mention he fell just as instantly for MC as Liam did, Liam just actually tells MC. And Drake proposes after having NO KIND of relationship with MC prior except mere fantasies. Far from perfect.

Okay I could probably talk for days on this matter, but here we go. I'm faulting Liam for falling head over heels at first site, not just for falling in love. Every argument you are making about Drake falling in love without knowing her is what happens with Liam in my second playthrough. I didn't kiss him, didn't do any of his diamond scenes, rejected him at every turn, yet he still proposes (it's the plot of the book, I get it, but still awkward AF). The other three LIs only propose after two whole books if you choose them when you reject Liam. Now you could have choosen Drake for the hell of it without having done any of his scenes or romantic options but why would you?

Now to address all the faults you bring up:

1. The pity party - Let's review Drake's history. His dad died presumably when he was a teenager and his mom didn't cope well and left her two teenage children to be looked after by Bastien. So he only had 3 people in his life who were close to him at the time: Savannah, Bastien, and Liam. The nobles never treated him like he was one of them and if you look to the examples in the book (Olivia, Madeleine, Neville) they were pretty damn brutal just because he was a commoner. You could argue it was his personality but his status always came up in the insults. I don't blame him one bit for being bitter and resentful of the whole nobility system.

So if he hates it so much, why is he still there? Well as has been stated many times before he did try to leave. He went to college in the U.S. but then Liam had a mental breakdown after an assassination attempt and nobody could pull him out of it, so Leo went to the US and begged Drake to come back. Drake gave up everything he wanted to be with Liam. Yes, it appears it has been many years since then, but Drake and Liam have become so codependent on each other, it's not so easy for him to just be like okay you are good now I'm going to start a new life. Plus at the point the book begins, Savannah is gone and he doesn't even know if she's alive. Liam and Bastien are literally the only close friends/family he has left. As someone whose parents died when I was in my early 20s and whose only sister/sibling has had her own issues where at times I didn't know where she was or if she was even alive, I can empathize. You want to hold on the people you do have in your life. It doesn't mean he has to be happy with system of privilege around him just because he's there for other reasons.

2. The rest of your complaints all go together and are so off base I'm just going to address them here. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you forgot that numerous Drake diamond scenes exist. I would argue that the Drake romance arc is one of the best and angstiest slow burn build ups Choices writers have done and is one of the reasons Drake was so interesting to me as a character. Drake may have thought MC was attractive off the bat, but he didn't even particularly like her. It took several diamond scenes before he started to open up to her in Lythikos. Then the romance built up little by little through Applewood when he rescued her from Tariq and he started to express his feelings but also his hesitation because of Liam being his friend and his own insecurities (I know people drag him for being insecure but can you blame him when every girl would give anything to be with the prince and not look twice at his commoner friend). He tried to push the MC away at every turn, but if you choose to romance him and do his scenes, she keeps pushing back. And he does keep admitting his feelings but also his hesitation. It takes 15 chapters to build up to just a kiss, and 2 full books for them to sleep together. Each diamond scene builds on the last with increasing feelings and sexual tension and the payoff is worth it in the end. Drake is very forthright with his feelings towards the end of book 2 and when you finally choose him, he's very openly sweet, protective, romantic, loyal etc.

The Drake you romance is so much better and more developed than the Drake you sideline because you only get to see the one dimensional fancy food/noble hating whiskey drinker if you don't do his scenes. Even towards the end, he comes around to a lot of these things because of/for MC, but he doesn't completely change who he is. So while I understand why people who don't romance Drake can't see all the things who romance him do, I don't get the animosity towards Drake stans for liking him or why anyone cares at all who others romance.

I get that some people find the enthusiasm of some stans annoying but I'm not seeing any Drake stans going into Liam/Hana/Maxwell stans inboxes and telling them how much their LI sucks and how dumb they are for liking them. I can see the reasons why everyone likes those other LIs, but they don't do it for me just as Drake may not do it for you. Unless anyone is trying to force Drake (or any LI) on you as a LI, just do your thing and let them like who they like.

[prorevenge]

Revenge for the boss from hell. 30k+ payable to me, thanks.

Greetings,

I posed this story once before in days past but deleted it in fear legal reasons. I’ve revised it and feel more comfortable sharing. I enjoy the heck out of this blog along with @r-maliciouscompliance and @petty-revenge-stories. I can tell you as a long time lurker this story is worth the read for the most deserved revenge.

TLDR: Boss was a d*ckhead all the time, then insulted me while I was eating lunch with a client in public. I painfully planned and executed a plan to make him pay me over 30,000 dollars as punishment , I was successful.

I worked for this small business IT Consulting firm for seven years. Owned and operated by a person we will call d*ck.

First two years things were fine. Occasionally this guy would take things a little too far, he was just passionate about his opinion and always had to be right, so I’d always give him that. I don’t have to agree but I saw his need and left it at that.

What I started to discover however is the turn over for the company is a couple of years and I began to realize why. The Boss (d*ck), picks one worker and makes it his life’s work to make that person as miserable as possible. I’m guessing the reason, ego purposes?

For months I’d hear him shouting all the time at this one guy. The co-worker after leaving the meeting would go back to his office from where I had a view and I could just see the stress and misery in his face. Till finally I said to him, “what the hell man? He’s always giving you a hard time here lately, what did you do?”

He didn’t seem to know. He confided in me right there the level of hell he’s in and some of the things d*ck has said or done. I couldn’t believe some of the details he shared on what d*ck both said and did. I felt things were embellished because people just don’t do some of the things he said. I would realize much later he was telling the truth as crazy as it sounded.

A few months later he finally found another job and left. I talk to him couple times a year and he always said it was the best choice in his life he ever made.

d*ck’s sights then narrowed on to me. I can take a lot. So for the next five years I took it. He would insult me pretty much every day, each day more and more colorful. I didn’t really care or take it home with me so it wasn’t a problem for me, for d*ck I would learn it was.

Unrelated, five years in I put in my notice because he asked me to get a couple certifications and if I did he would take care of me. Once I did what was requested he backed out of the agreement and played coy. Once he received my notice a couple months later he called me up within a minute, begged me to stay. It’s important to note he only asked for two certifications, I not only obtained those but an addional fourteen on top of that. Each time he would tell me “Great job, you will be well taken care of”. He lied 16 times in total on this matter. He matched the offer and increased my Salary up another 15k. Not looking forward to starting a new job I decided to stay.

What I learned is I was a fool to do that and money isn’t everything. Go where you’ll be the most happy. Best life advice I can give after this experience.

He left me alone for a couple months after that, he wasn’t in the office much either. Then a day struck his fancy to start things up again only he ran out of material. My work is solid and he had no opportunity to criticize that.

The only method he had was bashing his ego and sarcasm around but he realized it had no impact on me. Here is a Brief snippet of any given day of what it’s like to be selected as his target. He would communicate a problem he was having in length. Let’s say he complained about his cell phone. After he finished his story you would provide a helpful suggestion or advice from your experience. In turn he would ask with an entitled and sarcastic tone if you were an expert on the matter and wanted to see those credentials. I learn fast, just never speak unless spoken too. Any comment or insult he made I would respond without emotion and just say ok.

Because d*ck wasn’t able to get a rise out of me the old fashioned way he decided to create fictional content for a new direction.

Our small company would go out to eat as a whole, or just order in on Fridays. I ate half my sandwich, and wrapped the remaining to take home. He saw me with leftover food and claimed that I was taking home dinner on his dime. Any time there was any leftover, even a single French fry he’d be there with a magnify glass for inspection to find any conceivable way to yell.

So on Fridays I started packing my lunch, I’d order a beverage and a side. I’d finish the beverage and the side. Then eat what I brought, if I didn’t finish it he had no opportunity. You could see his look of disappointment when he would scan my plate.

This went on a couple weeks, he had no opportunity and couldn’t complain. He realized he failed again. So then he came up with the next item.

The Bathroom. This I actually did a little research on and couldn’t find anything legally I could do. But anytime anyone would use the rest room he would blame me for the smell. Instead of hello when passing in the highway he would say “Did you use spray” or “Did you light a match” as hateful as he could, but that was his normal. It went much deeper than this, more then I care to share. But I honestly believe d*ck has a fetish on this topic which is why I looked in to it legally. It was just always on his mind and a little too important to him, let’s just leave the rest unsaid.

I must have visually tipped him off I didn’t approve of this because he never got bored with it. However I did at least get him to stop asking about if I used spray. Anytime I used the bathroom, even to take a piss I’d use the entire can of air freshener. This wasn’t an easy task as I’d have to mask my face to empty that entire thing. Takes a while surprisingly to empty an entire can in a session. One thing is for certain when I was finished, someone used the “spray” and d*ck was buying a new can. Took about five weeks but I think he figured it out spending so much on spray, he stuck to just asking about matches after that. He even provided them in the bathroom.

One day we were out with a client. The current topic at this moment was “what is your favorite meal? My answer was “hot wings, I could eat those every day!” d*ck jumps in, his comment “Just think how bad the bathroom would smell”. Most at table wouldn’t get the context and direction of that comment, but I knew. He did this in front of a client, in public, while people are eating.

I almost walked out. Then I remembered he drove and it’s a long way back. Plus d*ck is over 60, what kind of person knocks out a senior? I had to chant that in my mind to keep control. I never get pissed but after years this was the last straw! I seriously pleaded with myself all day not to do it because I’d go to jail and he would win.

During this time period he also started playing with my money. Behind 4-5 months with reimbursement, week late on paychecks, stuff like that. You ask where it’s out, he says “next week” you explain he already said that last week, then he’d play coy.

I finished out the day without reacting somehow. Took everything I had but I’m not going to allow this to be unanswered. That was dangerous and too close. If he want’s trouble, I’ll give it to him! I will get even in a lawful way, somehow.

Then the idea came to me that night, did my research and odds were in my favorite that it could work. I’m just going to mirror him until he fires me. When he fires me he will have to pay half my current salary of 65k until I get a new job. You know what? I can live perfectly fine on 32.5k. Why not make him pay out of his pocket 32.5k for everything he had said and done? He would have to pay this over the course of six months or until I found a new job. So my goal was to make him pay me $32,500 to be exact over 6 months as restitution for what he said at that table.

I read up on all the rules in my state for Unemployment. Each state is different. But basically to qualify for it, it can’t be your fault if you were fired. So If I stood there and told him where to put it, that’s a no go. However if I was laid off I would qualify.

So I hit him where it hurt first, his favorite thing in the world is meetings. Because he loves to hear himself talk and take you step by step through his thought process with a noble tone congratulating himself for his thinking and why his way is the best way. So I started speaking up and illustrated a more efficient way that cost less.

He would argue, sometimes red in the face mad. Especially if others in the meeting liked my idea. He knew he was wrong but he would dismiss them and demand it be done his way.

I then started talking about him within ear shot on purpose. I’d say things like “Make sure you perform that d*cks way, takes longer but it’s better than him releasing the Kraken”. It would make everyone laugh, but it wasn’t a direct insult.

Trust me when I say this guy has a massive ego and I was counting on this for pissing him off. I laid it on thick, in time it took its toll. I knew it did because what came next.

His retaliation was the kitchen sink, he had nothing so he started accusing me of things, then playing coy when it came to reviewing the details or facts. He would put words in my month, I’d state he was wrong and then he would tell me I was. All he was doing was opening the door so he could play a revengeful sarcasm game. I know it’s a game so I decided to take his new toy away from him by just going along with whatever it is he said. Which further made him mad because what he was doing had no effect on me.

Fast forward six months, yes I’m STILL working here. But were only receiving a couple calls a day which are fifteen minutes each. This was due to d*ck’s bad business discussions.

While I took delight knowing he was hemorrhaging money for months, I was hoping for a lay off to execute my plan. Nothing. I have to make him want to fire me, it’s the only way. I have to beat him at his own game while providing the illusion he is in control.

So I turned up the heat. I was asked to travel to a client by the 2nd in command. I said “I’m sorry man, I haven’t received reimbursement in six months for travel expenses and I just had my work cell phone service turned off. With the way business is right now things aren’t looking good, I’d be stupid to take on more expenses, and I’m owed over two thousand dollars as it is. Once that’s paid in full I’d be more than happy to continue on a week to week bases after reimbursements”.

That day d*ck had a meeting with me and setup a payment plan to pay the money back. After three weeks it would be paid. So I said to d*ck “understood, after three weeks I’ll be on the road again, cool” just making sure he understood because he wanted to play games and not pay the amount in full d*ck is now going to pay me my salary for three weeks to do nothing until the reimbursement fee is paid.

Guy has a several million dollar house, goes on vacations has a boats, etc. Out of all the things I’ve done so far, this had made the most significant impact. Because I out whit him at his own game, it embarrassed him in the eyes of others. Why? Because the second of command was instructed to drive me anywhere I was needed. So I had my own personal Taxi driver for the few calls we had over the next two weeks. Two weeks he paid two people, me and the admin to drive and watch me work. I was friends with the admin and he knew exactly what I was doing and he loved every second of it.

Then on the third week, three days until the final payment, it happens. d*ck enters my office, and gives me the filmier demeaning dog wave gesture to follow him without speaking. We sit down and he asks me what the problem is?

I told him the problem is he needs a new hobby. In one hand you have someone sitting here that busted his ass for the last seven years, in the other your need to bash someone’s face in the dirt with your ego. The problem with me is I won’t conform and provide both.

He asked for some examples. I said you know what I’m talking about and even if I did review them you’d play coy. He then played coy about being coy, I laughed.

After a pause He said if you feel that way why didn’t you speak to me about it? I reminded him that I did twice and both times you humiliated me for it and said “this is I.T!” What the I.T Career that I’ve done the last twenty years had to do with his ego I’ll never know.

He responded with I’m behind the times, my work has been poor and out of the kindness of his heart he gave me a raise after I demanded it. I responded with Ok.

Then he finally said what I wanted to hear “I want to call it quits”.

I remained professional and communicated I’m sorry things didn’t work out and spent the next two hours reviewing stuff with co-workers on how to handle certain things. I shook his hand with a smile and left without saying anything negative. The fruit of my labor will do the talking for me shortly.

In route on the way home I called family members to tell them the good news. Everyone was so happy for me. It finally happened.

When I arrived home I promptly adjusted the dates on the unemployment forms I had filled out already in wait and submitted them. I called the state and confirmed everything was documented on my end accurately and now it’s the waiting game.

My plan wasn’t realized until my boss receive the letter in the mail about a week later stating he’s going to have shell out my Salary for the next six months or until I found a job.

Panicked at this point he realized what I set him up for. So He claimed he fired me for poor work performance. The state said, ok prove it. In this state it’s the employers’ burden to prove it. My record had no blemishes and he couldn’t use a client because a number of people at any given client would vouch for me and the truth as they all liked me and appreciated my work.

Realizing the shit storm he’s in now I’m told from the admin friend he was on the phone with them quite a while twisting and turning the fake stories out. Bottom line, the state needed to see documented verbal and written warnings, signed so he couldn’t fake them. He called his lawyer and his lawyer told him he’s screwed.

Later my boss told co-workers he felt bad for me that I couldn’t find work and he decided to give unemployment to me to save face of his ego. That made official that his ego was effected, he didn’t want anyone to know the truth. At this point he realized I got the better of him when I fought back and I won, big!

In a last ditch effort he lied about how much I made. The state sent me paper work stating this fact and asked me to prove my salary. So I gave them copies of checks and pay stubs for the last six months. After that things went easy, he was flagged for lying which made the reaming steps effortless the state rep told me.

For the reason I was terminated I said “d*ck the owner made some poor business discussions that impacted the company losing business and clients. He let me go as a business discussion, in his shoes I’d of done the same and understand.”

I wrote it that way for a reason. But d*ck didn’t realize why. I knew what his reaction would be. The state saw a down to earth guy that was honest and understanding on paper. Then they saw d*cks predicted response of being a d*ck, most likely yelling and of course lying. I had no doubt that would seal the deal simply on the evaluation on character before the facts even entered in to it.

His reaction being, his ego had to take it up the ass. Once for failing as a business man, another for me saying so on state paper work, and lastly accepting that I got the better of him and all this time I have been coaxing him to make this move.

The only thing left to do is pay me, every single week. And his money goes to the state first then the state sends it to me, so he can’t play games with my money or the state is coming after him.

Over the next six months I took that time to enjoy myself, pursue hobbies and lived life to the fullest on his dime as a reward for his comment. Once the letter came to renew unemployment, d*ck would no longer have to pay or only a parentage I forget, the important thing to know is tax payers would have to pay after six months not d*ck. So I declined the renewal. Three weeks later I had a new job.

It was either that or knock him out during that lunch, It wasn’t easy, took work but I’m proud of the way I handled it. I feel vindicated, it’s pretty rare the world is balanced, evil often wins. But not this time. This time it cost d*ck, 32,500 dollars to be exact. All in all I can say 10/10 would do it again.

Due to his age I can’t imagine that it would be a humbling experience at this point. But it was for me, money isn’t everything, there is only one thing of true value, your happiness. A year later, I’m very happy now, I enjoy my new job and my new boss. I discovered myself again, who I really am. The goofy friendly guy, my light is no longer dimmed by a dark presence and I can be myself without punishment.

(source) (story by Divine_Squire)

[slbp-secret-cupid]

Aphrodisiacs (Nobuyuki/MC, 18+)

Happy Valentine’s Day, @meruchan!! I am your Secret Cupid~ I’m here to deliver you some Nobuyuki love~ I know you were hoping for something M-rated/smutty, so I tried my best to insert a couple of steamy scenes, haha! I’ve never actually written smut before, so hopefully this turned out okay!

Also, it’s been a looong time since I’ve written something, so I’m sure everything’s all over the place! Since I’m just trying to get back into the swing of writing again, any comments would be appreciated! :) Enjoy!

APHRODISIACS

PAIRING: Sanada Nobuyuki/MC

RATING: 18+ (contains some smutty descriptions and adult/sexual topics)

~*~*~*~

“WHAT?!” Umeko exclaimed. “You’ve been dating for over a month and you STILL haven’t done it?! How is that even possible?!”

“Now, now, Umeko! Maybe he’s just being a gentleman…?” Matsuko interjected as she gestured for Umeko to calm down.

I could only cringe at Umeko’s outburst – not that I blamed her for her reaction, since I was starting to get concerned myself. It was already a shock to me that I was even dating THE Nobuyuki Sanada! He was the heir to an illustrious family business and I was but an apprentice cook at a small, though well-known, Japanese restaurant. He frequented the restaurant often as a customer, and, somehow, we had hit it off and eventually started dating almost two months ago.

“Yeah, he’s been nothing but a gentleman, in fact,” I responded with a sigh. “Maybe it’s because he knows I’m a virgin and doesn’t want to rush me… But, to be honest, I want him to try something with me!”

“Have you tried telling him that?” Umeko asked. “Sometimes you just have to get straight to the point!”

“Well… I’ve been too embarrassed to say anything. This is my first real relationship, and I don’t want to come off weird, you know,” I replied, feeling my face heat up with a blush. Really, I was mostly embarrassed at the amount of time I spent fantasizing about him in inappropriate ways. He really didn’t need to know that.

“Hmmmm, yeah, you don’t want to look too desperate either, I guess,” Matsuko added with a nod.

We all fell silent as we pondered my dilemma. After a few seconds, I opened my mouth to tell them to not worry about it, but was interrupted by Umeko snapping her fingers with a gasp.

“I’ve got it! I just remembered this article I read in a magazine!! I still have it in my purse – hold on!”

Umeko scrambled off my couch and dashed over to her purse, nearly colliding with the wall in her excitement. Moments later, she pulled out a popular tabloid I’d often seen at the checkouts at the grocery store and dropped it into my lap.

“Here, I’ll lend it to you. There was an article in there about natural aphrodisiacs and it lists a bunch of food that apparently makes you super horny! Why don’t you try cooking him up a dinner with some of those aphrodisiacs and get him in the mood! You know, seduce him!!Maybe that will jump start him to, well, jump you!”

“Oooh, seduction might not be a bad idea! Nowadays it’s totally normal for the girl to make the first move, you know!” Matsuko chimed in, having seemingly forgotten her previous comment about not looking desperate.

“Seriously?!” I exclaimed. It’s not that I hadn’t heard of aphrodisiacs, but I just didn’t think they were actually real. Besides that, me seduce him?! I already felt way out of my league!! He was always so calm and collected, I couldn’t even imagine him falling for any kind of seductions!

“Well, just read it first and decide! You never know!” Umeko giggled.

All I could do was sigh and reluctantly accept the magazine. Once I’d promised to give the article a read, our conversation moved on to other topics and it wasn’t long before our girls’ night ended and Umeko and Matsuko went home.

Alone now in my apartment, I settled down on my couch and started to flip through the magazine. It was aimed primarily at women and contained various articles on skin care, fashion, diets and of course… love advice. I blushed as I landed on an article about the newest sex toys. Though I’d heard about them from my friends, I’d always been too shy to buy one myself. I couldn’t help but skim the article out of curiosity. It was a review on a new product that was aimed at virgins – apparently it was designed to help ‘train’ women who were nervous about having sex for the first time.

I could feel a blush spread across my cheeks and the skin on the back of my neck prickled. I ignored the warm feeling that spread through my abdomen and quickly flipped to the next page.

“Here it is… ‘In this edition of ‘The Lover’s Guide’, we’ll introduce you to thirty natural aphrodisiacs to spice up your love life!’” I read out loud to myself, cringing at how corny it sounded.

However, despite my doubts, I started reading the article, mostly fueled by my own desperation. The article listed out various food products that would, apparently, increase one’s sex drive while explaining the ‘science’ behind it. Oysters apparently contained zinc, which is supposed to boost the male sex drive, and amino acids, which can trigger increased levels of sex hormones. Chocolate contains 'feel-good’ chemicals phenylethylamine and serotonin. Certain spices acted as sexual stimulants. The list went on and on.

As I read more of the article, I soon found myself forgetting my skepticism as the culinary side of my brain automatically started piecing together a menu using these ‘aphrodisiacs’. Soon, I was already making a mental grocery list and thinking of how I could plate and present each course…

~*~*~*~

I had just placed the plate of dessert into my fridge when I heard the doorbell ring.

“Coming!” I called as I stripped off my apron and hung it up on its hook. When I opened the door, I came face-to-face with the handsome, smiling face of my boyfriend.

“Good evening,” Nobuyuki greeted before leaning down to kiss me chastely on the cheek. Leaning back, he gently handed me a bouquet of vibrant red roses. “For you. Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“They’re beautiful! Thank you!” I exclaimed, cradling the bouquet gently as I stepped aside to let him inside.

“I also brought a bottle of champagne,” Nobuyuki added as he shut the door behind him. He slipped off his shoes and placed his work bag on the floor. I couldn’t stop myself from admiring his broad shoulders through his perfectly-tailored shirt as they shrugged off his coat.

“Is something wrong?”

I was suddenly snapped out of my ogling by Nobuyuki’s voice and I realized that I hadn’t moved since he’d come in.

“Sorry, I was just distracted! Are you hungry?” I asked, turning my back to him to hide the guilty flush on my face. Trying to distract myself, I walked into my kitchen, intending to look for a vase for the flowers.

However, a moment later, I squeaked as I suddenly felt Nobuyuki wrap his arms around me from behind.

“I’m famished,” he breathed into my ear. I shuddered as I felt his breath on the back of my neck. All too quickly, though, he let me go with a chuckle and made his way over to the dining table.

“Gr-great!” I stammered. This man was not good for my heart!! “Because I prepared a lot of food!”

Taking a deep breath, I opened my fridge and prepared myself for… the worst? The best? I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect, but, well…. here went nothing.

I reached into my fridge, pulled out a bowl and set it on the table. It contained raw oysters laid out on a bed of ice chips.

“Oysters?” Nobuyuki breathed, his slender eyebrows raising in surprise.

“Yes, they were on sale! So, I thought it might be nice to indulge!” I quipped, sitting down across from him and setting down a plate of lemon wedges and a couple of small serving plates. “Umm, you don’t dislike oysters, do you?”

I raised my eyes to study his face nervously, but he simply smiled back at me gently, his head tilting slightly to one side with the gesture.

“Not at all. I just wasn’t… expecting it. I’m happy to eat anything you make for me.”

“Well, that’s a relief! Help yourself then!”

I knew that any effects from the food wouldn’t be instantaneously, but I found myself holding my breath anyway as I watched Nobuyuki reach for an oyster. He squeezed a few drops of lemon juice on it before delicately raising it to his mouth. My mind automatically flickered back to the magazine article I had read earlier last week. Not only were oysters full of zinc and amino acids for boosting the sex drive, it was said that oysters were also sexually appealing because of the sensual way that they were eaten.

That article couldn’t have been more right. It was as if my brain was running in slow-motion. My eyes fixated on Nobuyuki’s mouth as he tipped the oyster into his mouth. I was acutely aware of every movement of his lips as the oyster moved past his lips and I could feel a hot coiling feeling ignite in my stomach as he made a slurping sound. My mouth went dry as he made an appreciative sound – moan, it was a moan, my brain screamed – and licked his lips.

God, those lips… I couldn’t even count the amount of times he’d kissed me breathless with those lips. He was an amazing kisser, and I couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel if those skillful lips kissed the rest of my body. Especially between my thighs.

Before I knew it, my brain flashed to an image of Nobuyuki’s head between my legs. He would moan, as he had just now, as his tongue languidly licked along my folds. I could hear wet, slurping sounds as his lips sucked at my pussy, drinking up the juices flowing out. I had never felt so wet before, and I couldn’t tell whether the wetness came from myself or was simply his saliva. Then, suddenly, I gasped as he teased a finger between my wet lower lips, pushing in as he continued his ministrations with his mouth.  The sensation made me groan and I could feel another gush of hot liquid flow out as he reached in deeper with his finger. I couldn’t help pressing myself against his face, pushing him in deeper—

“You’re not eating?”

“S-sorry! I was just waiting for you to try the first one!” I yelped, my mind slamming back to reality at his question.

I couldn’t believe that I had just did that!! I mentally slapped myself for suddenly drifting off to fantasyland and reached for an oyster myself. Instead, I forced myself to make small talk to distract my brain, and soon we had finished the oysters, along with some of the champagne. I then pulled out the next course from the oven.

“Baked salmon with asparagus,” I said, placing Nobuyuki’s plate before him.

According to the article, salmon contained omega 3s which are linked to serotonin boosting your happiness and mood. Meanwhile, asparagus is rich in vitamin B6 and folate, which are said to increase arousal and orgasm. Not to mention their suggestive shape…

“Oh, I also tried making it spicy – since I know you like your food on the flavourful side,” I added. Chili peppers apparently stimulated the release of endorphins and generated physiological responses in the body similar to those experienced during arousal, like sweating and increased heartrate.

“Ah, that definitely has quite a kick to it,” Nobuyuki commented as he finished several bites of his salmon. “I’m certainly feeling the heat, now, haha.”

He put down his fork and knife and loosened the collar of his dress shirt, undoing the first couple of buttons. My eyes automatically followed the sudden motion of his hands and followed the ‘v’ of his slightly open shirt. I could see a light sheen of sweat along his neck, which was slightly flushed. My gaze moved up to his face, staring at his parted lips as he fanned himself lightly with his hand. The look on his face instantly sent another shot of heat down to my privates and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

I couldn’t help but wonder if this would be the expression he’d make in bed. Perhaps he’d look like that, covered in a light layer of sweat, with locks of his soft hair sticking to his skin and lips parted in pants as my hand moved along his shaft. I imagined him groaning my name as I stroked him up and down, keeping my grip at just the right pressure for his abdomen to tense underneath me. Just when beads of pre-cum start dripping out, I dipped my head down to cover his tip with my mouth. I flick my tongue over his head, lapping up the beads of liquid, relishing in the gasp that escapes his mouth. Then, I slipped my grip lower as I took in more of him into my mouth—

Oh my GOD, STOOOOOP!!! I screamed at my mind, shaking my head as I quickly went back to my meal, attacking my salmon with a vengeance.

I thanked the magazine article for giving me the idea to use chili, as the heat from the food gave me an excuse to hide the blush on my face. I felt my face get even warmer as I realized that I could feel a slight wetness between my legs. How was it possible that I was this turned on?! Maybe there was something to this aphrodisiac business…

Though I was feeling heated, when I glanced over at Nobuyuki, he looked completely calm, the heat from the chili seasoning long gone. He had finished eating his portion already and was casually sipping at his champagne while watching me with hooded eyes and a light smile. It was a familiar expression on him, and I often caught him looking at me this way, though I never could figure out what he was thinking. One thing was for certain, though: this look always gave me butterflies.

“Do you still have room for dessert?” I asked, trying to distract myself from drowning in that smoldering gaze.

“Certainly. What’s on the menu?”

“Well, since it’s Valentine’s Day, I really wanted to do something with chocolate! And I saw this fondue set on sale at the department store the other day, so – chocolate fondue!” I responded as I cleared the dining table of our dinner plates.

I then quickly put together the fondue set and started melting the dark chocolate I had bought. I then pulled out the plate of fresh fruit that I had painstakingly prepared. The article had cited chocolate as an aphrodisiac, which made it a convenient fit for our Valentine’s dinner. I had also relied on the article to pick out many of the fruits on the platter. Those fruits apparently contained certain vitamins and minerals that were supposed to elevate energy levels and promote positive moods – which would lead to being in the mood.

“Ah, the fruits look delicious,” Nobuyuki commented, already swiping up a strawberry and popping it into his mouth.

I smiled at his boyish behaviour. He was always so put together, but, when it came to dessert, he always let his guard down just a little bit. I would have never expected him to have such a sweet tooth – and he was especially partial to fruits.

“Strawberries, bananas, cherries, mangos, pineapples… and what’s this?” Nobuyuki asked, pointing at the small round balls sitting with the fruit on the platter.

“Oh, they’re cinnamon doughnut bites. I thought it might be nice to toss in a different texture.” I responded. The real reason, though, was that cinnamon had also been listed in the article as an aphrodisiac. Apparently, the spice produced heat within the body and facilitated sexual arousal.

“Doughnuts, hmmm? Yukimura would be jealous – he loves doughnuts.”

“Oh, I made a lot – you can take some leftovers for him, if you want.”

“Thank you, I think I will. It’ll be a nice repayment since I borrowed something from him earlier this week.”

As soon as the chocolate was melted and ready, Nobuyuki immediately picked up one of the doughnuts with his fingers – completely ignoring the small fork I had put out for him – and dipped it into the chocolate. However, instead of putting it into his own mouth, I found the chocolate-covered doughnut dangling in front of my lips.

“Say, ‘ahhhh’,” Nobuyuki said, his eyes narrowing in a smile.

I couldn’t help but blush a little as I opened my mouth. Nobuyuki popped the doughnut into my mouth and I felt my lips and tongue brush against his fingers before he moved them away.

“Oh my, looks like I made a bit of a mess,” he remarked, looking at his hand. Perhaps he had dipped the doughnut into too much chocolate, or it had simply dripped down onto his hand when he had fed it to me, but bits of melted chocolate covered his fingers.

Without another thought, he brought his hand to his lips and began to languidly lick the chocolate off his fingers. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from watching the movement of his tongue lapping over his fingers – the motion was far more sensual than it had any right to be. Whether it was caused by the cinnamon on the doughnut or something completely more primitive, I immediately felt a burst of heat through my lower abdomen.

It was going to be a long night….

~*~*~*~

As I stepped out of the washroom, I saw Nobuyuki slip something – it looked like a card – into a gift bag. He then capped the pen he was holding, stowing it back into his pocket.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stay later, dear one,” he murmured apologetically as he shrugged on his coat. He had suddenly been called back to the office to deal with an urgent work situation, so our night had been cut shorter than expected.

“Oh, please, don’t feel bad! You can’t help it if an emergency comes up. I’m just happy that we were able to finish eating dinner!” I responded, leaning into the kiss he placed on my cheek.

“I’ll make it up to you next time,” he said with a smile before handing me the gift bag. “This is for you, by the way. Please do open it after I leave. I hope you’ll enjoy it.”

“Thank you, Nobuyuki. Flowers and a present? You’re spoiling me!”

“Not at all. Giving this to you may as well be a gift for myself, my dear.”

After slipping on his shoes, he turned around and suddenly I found my face caught between his large hands. A second later, he pulled me in for a kiss. His lips hungrily moved over my own and the soft, pleasant sensation made me moan before I realized – my body still felt hot and bothered and this kiss was doing things to me. I felt his tongue push past my slightly parted lips, deepening the kiss, and I could taste the lingering flavour of chocolate. I was desperate to taste more of him, and pressed myself further into his kiss, but he suddenly pulled away.

“I have to go, now,” he said with a small smile.

Though he sounded apologetic, I could see a teasing twinkle in his eye – he knew exactly what he was doing. He chuckled as I tried to glare at him, but my scowl quickly turned into a smile when he gave me another peck on the cheek.

“Good night, Nobuyuki. Drive safe!”

“Good night. Don’t stay up too late,” he responded with another smile. Then, he left, and I was alone once more in my apartment.

I let out a sigh. Well, there went that plan. I had hoped that he would stay the night and that my aphrodisiac-laden dinner would entice him into finally making a move on me.

Feeling sorry for myself, I picked up the gift bag Nobuyuki had given me and pulled out the tissue paper. I immediately saw an envelope and pulled that out first. I opened the card that was inside and was greeted with Nobuyuki’s neat, flowing script along with a folded piece of paper.

The card itself contained a short and sweet message from Nobuyuki wishing me a happy Valentine’s Day. I then unfolded the piece of paper – it looked like it had been a page ripped out of his notepad or day planner – but, as I read the message, I felt an odd feeling of dread flood through me.

'Happy Valentine’s Day, dear one. The other day, I was reading an article in a magazine that I found in Yukimura’s room. There were some fascinating articles that were quite enlightening. One of those articles gave me the perfect idea for your Valentine’s Day gift. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay to witness you opening your gift. I would’ve loved to see you try it out. I’ve left the magazine for you to read the article yourself as it’s quite informative. I’ve bookmarked the pages for you.’

I immediately looked back into the gift bag as I felt my heart race faster. Sure enough, there was a magazine tucked against the inner siding of the bag. My hand trembled slightly as I pulled it out. It was the exact same magazine that Umeko had lent me, and there were two sticky notes sticking out of the pages.

I flipped to the first sticky note and found myself face-to-face with the article about the sex toy for virgins. I immediately felt heat rush simultaneously up my face and down my neck. Seriously?! A second glance into the gift bag revealed a discreet black box labeled with the name of the sex toy. I wasn’t sure if I should feel flattered or embarrassed.

However, as I flipped to the second bookmark, I decided that I most definitely felt embarrassed.

The second sticky note was stuck on the article about aphrodisiacs and written on said sticky note were the words: 'Thank you for dinner.’

END

[joyofcrime-elinorhigh]

2018 Year in REVIEW: Part 2

 Hello everybody, JoyofCrimeArt here, and it's time to wrap up Deviant-cemnber by finishing this recap. If you're just joining us I'm going over all the events that happened to the cartoon community thought the year of 2018. I'm also ranking all the new series from best to worse, and deciding which network was the quote unquote "winner" of the year. If you haven't seen part one, you can check it out here. 2018 Year in REVIEW: Part 1 But for everyone else, let's get on with the review. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  So at the end of the last part, we had to deal with that whole "Thundercats CalArts" debacle. Not exactly the most "positive" stopping point. So why don't we start this part with something light? Oh hey, look, people are talking about Butch Hartman! He's always good for a laugh. What's he up too?

 Oh no...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBOMlWl7fFk

 So Butch Hartman, America's dad, started a Kickstarter for his own streaming service. It's called Oaxis and is suppose to be a family friendly streaming service with original programming along the lines of Netflix. Butch asked for 250,000 dollars in order to get the basic groundwork for the site up and running. That's a lot of money to ask for, so there's no way he could actually...Holy crap, he actually did it! The madman pulled it off!  Now, there's a lot to unload here. Butch Hartman's streaming service initially was met with controversy due to how vague everything about it was. There were a lot of unanswered questions. We didn't know what kind of shows it would have outside of a few failed pilots that Butch had pitched to various networks in the years prior. Were there other creators had plans to affiliate themselves with the project? All of these unanswered questions lead a lot of people to think that this was all just a big scam. If I had to make a guess, I have a feeling that part of the point of the Kickstarter was to act as a proof of concept. A way to show investors that there was an interest in the service. While a quarter of a million dollars is a lot, that's still not anywhere NEAR enough to run an entire new entertainment platform.  However, I wanna be devil's advocate here. Butch Hartman has some experience in this field.The Noog Network, is an app that he developed that specializes in family friendly animated and live action shorts all created by Butch Hartman himself. Not exactly the same as a streaming service, but still. And consider that Butch has ties to people in the industry, and has experiences running a business in the form of his nonprofit charity The Hartman House, MAYBE he could pull it off? Maybe? Possibly...  But that's not where the controversy ends however! As footage leaked of old Butch-y boi speaking at a church event promoting Oaxis. Here he made several claims that many found to be a bit disconcerting. Such as claims that his streaming service would feature "Christian values" which is something not at all mentioned in his Kickstarter. As a Christian myself I've always thought of Christian values as things like kindness, generosity, respect. All things that aren't necessarily exclusive to Christianity. So maybe he meant like that. However, the fact that he was invited as a special guest to a church to speak about the service...It's definitely a little bit suspect. There's nothing wrong with making a streaming service aimed at Christian families, but you should at least mention it in the Kickstarter. That way people know what they're donating too. He later specified in a tweet that while the service wouldn't inherently be Christian themed, but since Butch Hartman is a devout Christian himself, that would always carry over into his work no matter what he does. It should be noted  that in the same speech he list his previous shows as containing the same "Christian values" and I don't think anybody was ever converted to Christianity by T.U.F.F Puppy. I don't know.  Man, between this and last years Castlevania, I love being forced to talk about my religious views in a article that's suppose to be about dumb cartoon shows.  He also made a controversial claim saying that suicides are more common now of days because of peoples addition to cell phones and technology. Saying that because of these technology people not talking to their parents as much as a result. I'm not a researcher on this, so I have no idea if this is actually true. I could definitely see that could at least be partially true with things like cyber bulling and the lack of communication with parents COULD possibly be a factor in the increases of suicides. But it defiantly feels like a disservice to just ignore issues like mental health being a factor. I can defiantly see how people could of taken offense.  All of this backlash lead to everyone's favorite 2018 game! "Attack people online until they apologize!" Cause as we all know, nothing makes an apology more sincere than when it's forced out of them by an angry mob! But eventually all the heat died down when all the "Butch Hartman Rant" videos stopped getting views, I mean, when there was nothing left to talk about. Overall, I think that the situation was just bad on all fronts. Butch should of said something to explain himself, and not be so vague in his goals. But also, we live in a day and age where I honestly wonder if that would of been the smartest move. It feels like once people have their opinion set, there's no going back. I mean how often to celebrity apologizes even work? Still though, smart or not, it would of been the right thing to do.  However, I would like to point out that all of this hate started simply because he reached his goal. All the stuff about the church and his suicide comments all came after he was already getting hate for being a scam artist. But the thing is, we don't even know if he is a scam artist or not. Sure, the fact that he's barely talked about Oaxis at all since the Kickstarter was funded doesn't bode well. But from what I could fine, he's given out most of the rewards he promised. And on the Kickstarter page he says the site wasn't expected to launch until mid 2020. Do I think Butch will be able to pull this off? Probably not...but I hope he does. I want Oaxis to be a thing, cause I am interested in some of the shows he's talked about putting on there, like Elf Detective. And if you hate Butch and hope for Oaxis to fail, that's your prerogative. But if you are hoping for it to fail, than you're hoping that nearly thirteen hundred people got scammed out of their money. Just saying.  Ugh! I'm sick of this drama. I want more uplifting Kickstarter news! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rMCkNgHa3c

 Homestar Runner was one of the first big web series that existed B.Y. Before Youtube. The series has been running off and on for about nineteen years now. And the creators, The Brother Chaps, decided to make a Kickstarter campaign to make a tabletop board game based on one of there series most popular characters. Trogdor, the Burniator. A poorly drawn dragon with an affinity for burning down cottages. The Kickstarter was set up for a goal seventy thousand dollars. Which feels like a lot for a board game, but hey, what do I know. While Homestar still has a very loyal fanbase, the series defiantly is nowhere near as popular as it was in the early to mid two thousands. And seventy thousand is a pretty hefty goal? Would a board game based on an outdated internet meme from 2004 really be able to make that kind of money?  It reached it's goal in less than a day. And by the end they ended up making over one point four million dollars! I don't know what exactly The Brothers Chaps are going to do with all that money, but it's nice to know that the Homestar fanbase is still alive and well after all that time. And it's also nice to just see a Kickstarter that reached it's goal, delivered everything it promised, and didn't get into any major controversies.   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Anyway, back to controversy. Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon since 2006, resigned. And people hate her because of some...controversy. Something about unions I think? Yeah, I didn't bother looking into this one. Between the Thundercats Roar drama and Butch Hartman stuff, I just couldn't go through all of this again. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, so I'm perfectly happy to be the ostrich with it's head in the sand on this one! However, like I said last time, it'll be very interesting to see what happens to Nickelodeon in the next couple of years. Without Butch Hartman, Dan Schneider, and now Cyma Zarghami I feel like Nickelodeon five years from now could be something completely unrecognizable from what it is today. And hopefully it'll be in a good way. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  But hey, this year wasn't all drama though. I mean look at all the new shows we got. Like Pinky Malinky.

DELAYED!  Okay, well at least we finally have Young Justice season three...

DELAYED!  The new Harley Quinn Cartoon...

DELAYED!  FXX's Deadpool?

CANCELED!  TBS's Close Enough from Regular Show creator JG Quintel?

WHO THE FU*K EVEN KNOWS AT THIS POINT?  Seriously, what's with this year? It's like everything has been delayed! What the heck? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Nickelodeon announced that they're making a reboot for the Rugrats. And just...why?  Money-    Yes, I know it's money! But it's a show about babies! When you make a reboot of something, the entire point is to update it. But when your show is about babies, how are you suppose to do that? Babies today are still doing the same things that babies did back in 1991. And with the first show having one hundred seventy two half hour episodes. What stories are left to tell?  Then again, anything can be good. That Muppet Babies reboot (Which I didn't watch and isn't on this list) seems to be pretty well received. So maybe it could work. I don't know. I've never seen to much Rugrats growing up, so it's hard for me to get excited for this. But I'm sure someone will enjoy it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  So Netflix decided to drop all of their new series all at the end of the year. Their first one is Matt Groening's Disenchantment. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp_RnJcb8Ig

 The series follows Bean, the princess of the magical kingdom of Dreamland. She's a bitter snarky alcoholic, cause AGAIN, NEVER SEEN THAT CHARACTER DONE BEFORE! The series follows her, as well as her personal demon Luci and her elf companion Elfo through various misadventures. Think what Futurama did with Sci-fi but with a fantasy setting and you have this show. Only...Comedy Centeral era Futurama.  I didn't really enjoy the first seven or so episodes of this show that much. The show wasn't bad per say, but it wasn't really anything great either. This show is aimed slightly more towards adults than Matt Groening's previous works, having a TV-14 rating instead of a TV-PG. The humor is a bit darker and edgier, and it lead to this very mean spirited feel over the entire show. The cast aren't particularly likable, and Dreamland just isn't a fun setting to be around. One thing I did like however was the fact that the show had an on going continuity and changing status quo. This is refreshing considering that Matt Groenings other shows (mainly The Simpsons) are famous for almost always returning to their status quo.  But here's the weird thing, starting with episode 8, the show suddenly has this MASSIVE spike in quality out of nowhere as all the plot points that have been building over the course of the season all start to pay off. The characters all become a lot more likable. The stakes are raised. Like, it's weird how different these last three episodes are. I'd go into more detail, but unfortunately I can't due to spoilers, but trust me, the show gets better. It's not "classic Simpsons" or "classic Futurama" good, but still. It's not THAT far off.  This sudden spike in quality makes it hard for me to decide how to rate this show. But since most of the run is pretty sub par, I kinda just have to average it out. Unfortunately due to the continuity you can't just skip till the end. It all really depends how patient you are. But even the bad stuff isn't awful or anything. It's just kinda bland. The show was picked up for a second season and I am looking forward to seeing where this show will go. I think that season two could be something great, but just talking about season one, it's...okay. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Hey, it feels like it's been a while since we had a controversy. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZSOGZFfSDk

 It seems recently there are so many streaming services out there creating there own original series, it's hard to keep track. You got Netflix, Hulu, DC Universe, Soon they'll be Disney+...Oaxis-  So it only made since for a site like Cruchyroll to start making they're own exclusive content. You'd think they would just hire some anime studio to make originals for them like Netflix does. But no, they decided to go with a more American styled series. High Guardian Spice. The trailer doesn't reveal much about the show, but plot wise it sounds eerily similar similar to RWBY. About a group of girls all named after different spices going to school to become "Guardians." Whatever that means.  There were a lot of reason people were upset. From it be a more Americanized looking series. To the fact that Cruchyroll's (from what I hear) site having some interface problems that some people would rather have them devoting the money on fixing. But the main reason people were upset was because of the series trailer spent more time talking about the diversity of the crew and characters than they did the show plot. Outrage was also sparked from the fact that they use the fact that they have an all female writers room as a sign of there "diversity." Even though having a writers room were everyone is the same gender isn't actually diverse.  I have no problem with diversity in my stories. But the fact that they chose to focus on it as a highlight when they talked so little about the story of the characters is what has me worried. It makes me worried that the crew aren't confident enough in the series premise and characters to carry the series on it's own. It's better to make a story that's good first, and diverse second as oppose to the other way around. When you do it the other way, you end up with Ghostbusters 2016. I think. I never saw it, but I hear it's "okay" at BEST. People don't like things shoved down there throats, even if it's something they agree with. Most people support diversity. But when you tell them that they HAVE to support it, that's what makes people start to hate it. Humans are very spiteful creatures in that regard.  However, despite all of that, I'm still kinda excited for this show. I LOVE the art style. And you all know by now that I love me a good girly cartoon. And many other shows that boast about their diversity (Like Steven Universe and She Ra, which I'll get to in little bit) still manage to be good. It can be distracting when you see a cartoon and know what ideals the creators are trying to push. I get it. But sometimes you just have to take the death of the author approach, and just see the show for what it is on it's own. You might be surprised by what you can enjoy. We'll have to wait to see how this show pans out. But if they're able to include some Mike Toole, I'm sold. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  It seems like every year we have one BIG cartoon finale. 2016 had Gravity Falls. 2017 had Regular Show. And now after eight long years, it's time for Adventure Times Grand Finn-ale.  ...I'm not sorry.  Adventure Time ended with an hour long episode "Come Along with Me." I'll try to not spoil the special TOO much for those who haven't seen it, but if you want to go in completely blind I suggest skipping down to the next segment cause this is your SPOILER WARNING. The special revolves around the Gum War between Princess Bubblegum and her Uncle Gumbald. A plot that had been slowly growing all season. On top of that, Betty and Normal Man are trying to find a way to turn Ice King back into Simon.  The things I do like about the finale is just the sheer number of callbacks that were made. While I think a few did go over my head, as there are a few episodes of Adventure Time I've never gotten around to seeing, it's nice to see so many returning concepts and characters. I'm glad they included things from the entire series run, instead of just the "classic" episodes that most people would recognizes. It rewards fans who stuck around for the long haul. It was also nice seeing most of the series lingering plot points wrap up. And we finally got to see the kiss that we've all been waiting years for. And kudos to CN for allowing them to do it. It was very brave of them.  I am of course talking about LSP and Lemongrab, baby! Wooh! 

 There's also the ending. Which is just a montage set to the end credits song showing where all the characters end up after the series. I love endings like this so damn much, and while it didn't hit me as hard as Regular Show's finales montage, it still hits the feels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIkS8eGCKOU

 The special does have it's flaws though. The Gum War really felt like an anti-climax and the shift to GOLB felt very out of left field. Also the fate of Uncle Gumbald left a very bad taste in my mouth. It kinda felt like they went against the whole point they tried to make. I admit that I didn't enjoy this finale as much as I did the Gravity Falls or Regular Show finales, but it's still sad seeing Adventure Time go. It defined cartoons of the 2010's. And I don't think they'res been a show since that's been quite like it. Even though the later seasons weren't as good, Adventure Time will always have a special place in my heart. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Netflix continues to pump out series after series with another new series, Dragon Prince.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWEtCsi3Eo8

 Dragon Prince is a series set in a fantasy world in the midst of war. On one side is the humans, and on the other side the Elves and Dragons. The series follows two human princes, Callum and Ezran as well as a elf assassin named Rayla, as they go on a quest that will hopefully bring peace to there world.  The series features a lot of crew and voice actors who previously worked on Avatar: The Last Airbender. And it shows. I mean both shows follow a group of kids traveling through a fantasy world in the middle of a war. The seasons are called books, and each book based on a different element of the magic system. I was worried this show would falls end up being just a carbon copy of Avatar. But luckily, the show does manage to have it's own feel despite having a lot of stimulates.  The animation is a bit of a mixed bag. It's cel shaded CGI, similar to RWBY. But despite the series being made by a company much bigger than Rooster Teeth, the animation is so much more lag-y. Something about the frame rate seems off at times. Also I noticed background characters being copied and recolored a few times in my watch. But none of this took me to much out of the experience.  The characters and writing are all really good for the most part. One of the best parts of Avatar was how it showed that both sides of the war had normal people. And Dragon Prince takes this element and brings it one step further. Neither side of the war are depicted as wholly right or wholly wrong, with both sides committing terrible acts. That's a lot of complexity for a show that's aimed at children. However, there is a villain who, while I won't reveal who he/she is, feels very cartoonishly evil for this otherwise complex world. Like, you could make this character complex very easily. A lot of the villains goals and reasoning makes sense, and are even justifiable. But the methods used are just the most mustache twirling ways of achieving these goals, even when there are less evil ways of accomplishing the same thing. It's weirdly out of place.  However, despite the flaws, Dragon Prince is a really good show that manages to feel similar to Avatar while still being it's own thing. I highly recommend you check it out.   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Speaking of Avatar, Netflix is making one! Particularly a live action reboot. And just...Why?  Money-    Yes, I know it's money! But everybody already love the original Avatar! What is there to change? What needs to be updated? And what can be done in live action that can't be done in animation. It feels like all these live action remakes only exist in order to "legitimize" their animated counterparts. Cause God forbid something animated be watched by adults. I dunno. There's a very good chance this could be good, but I doubt it'll be better than the original series. I have no interest in this. Netflix, you have Dragon Prince! You don't need this! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  But Netflix isn't done yet! Cause we also have Hilda! Based on the series of graphic novels of the same name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCojP2Ubuto

 Hilda follows...Hilda. A young adventurous girl who spent her whole life living in a magical forest with her Mom. That is until one day her Mom decides to move to the city of Trolberg. Now Hilda has to learn to adapt to her new surroundings in the city, learn to make friends with normal humans, and deal with magical creatures. Cause despite the fact that Trolberg has a wall designed to keep magical creatures out, the city really sucks at doing so.    This shows really cute! The art style reminds me of a cross between Steven Universe and The Loud House. But with any series involving kids interacting with magical creatures the comparisons are going to be brought up. Is Hilda the next Over The Gravity Garden Falls? Seriously, ever video on Youtube about Hilda brings up this comparison.  And really, outside of the premise of "adventurous child exploring magical forest" Hilda isn't really like either of those shows. Hilda is a lot lighter in tone than those two series. The monsters aren't as scary and the humor is a lot less snarky. There aren't really that many "jokes" in Hilda as the series relies more on overall pleasantness. Also there isn't any real overarching mystery element in Hilda. It's more slice of life. Why can't Hilda just be the next...Hilda?  It's a quaint show. From the animation, to the tone, to the voice acting, it all just feels so cozy. I also love the creativity with all the different creatures they come up with. It's has a unique charm to it, and it's fun seeing a world where everyone just knows magic exist and society has integrated with it. If I had to point out a few flaws, I'd say that the subplot they have with Hilda's best friend Frieda wasn't very good. I really have no idea what they were going for with that. And the show can be a bit repetitive at times, but that might just be because I had to binge it in order to finish it in time for this review. But overall this is a really nice show. Check it out if you can. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  OK KO is well known for it's crossovers from Captain Planet to Mighty Magiswords. But this year, they created the ultimate crossover. And if we could just appreciate the dedication to the past that the crew for OK KO clearly had when making this crossover? You all know what I'm talking about right? OK KO meet Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School Baby! That's right, the crossover that we've all been waiting for.

 ...  AND THEY SAID AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR WAS THE MOST AMBITIOUS CROSSOVER OF ALL TIME!  They were even allowed to use the original Hannah-Barbara model sheets. This is notable as I think it's the first time OK KO has ever actually used a model sheet. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Hey, everybody loves Fallout 76, right? While we all agree the game is a flawless masterpiece, I just wish there was a way to somehow make it even better. Like, what if we got the twitch streamer Ninja, The rapper Logic, and RICK AND MORTY to all live stream the game together? Now THAT would be a lot of IQ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMZhhTOF4l8

 ...  aNd ThEy SaId ThAt AvEnGeRs: InFiItY wAr WaS tHe MoSt AmBiTiOuS cRoSsOvEr oF AlL tImE!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I swear, Netflix won't be satisfied until they make at least one thousand original animated series a year. Here's She-Ra and the Princess of Power. Not to be confused with She-Ra: Princess of Power. That's the 80's show.  Good job naming your show there, Netflix! 

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuFQxsRzUws

This is the cheesiest theme song ever, I love it so much!  Now, from what I understand, a lot of OG She-Ra fans don't like this reboot because it changed so much from the original. However, as someone who knows next to nothing about She-Ra or He-Man, I'm can't really comment on any inaccuracies. So I'm going to have to judge it as it's own thing.  She-Ra follows Adora, a child solider serving as force captain in The Horde army. But one day, after finding a magical sword in the forest, she gains the ability to transform into the Hero, She-Ra. Not long after that she finds out that, shock of all shock, the army that's literally called THE HORDE are actually the bad guys. so she defects from the Horde, and joins the Rebellion with her new friends Bow and Glimmer. Now Adora, along with a growing army of magical princesses, must find a way to fight back against the Horde. Meanwhile The Horde, specifically Adora adopted sister/possible...lover Catra try to bring her back to her "home."  I like this show. It's not amazing or anything. But it's a fun, girly action series. That's something I like about Netflix, it's one of the only channels out there that's not afraid to do action series. While the characters aren't that complex, they're fun and all have good chemistry together. Everybody feels like a real person. And this applies to both the Rebellion and the Horde. The show does a good job of juggling a lot of characters, while still keeping focus on the main cast.  AND YOU WANNA TALK SAD, LONELY LESBIANS! THIS WHOLE SHOW IS A SAD LONELY LESBIAN! Though did anyone else find it a bit strange that Adora's relationship with Catra seemingly bounces back and forth between "sister" and "lover." Like, I don't care which way you go with, but you really need to pick one or the other...  I know a lot of people are annoyed by the fact that a lot of classic designs and characters were changed to make the show more diverse. I didn't mind this to much. Adaptations change race, sexuality, and body types all the time. And I can only think of one time where it ever felt distracting, and even then it was brief. I never found it to bothersome.  Downsides though, the tone is kinda wonky at times. Nothing to noticeable, but sometimes it seems like the show is trying to be a serious action adventure, while other times it feels like it's trying to be campy like the 80's series. There's an episode called "Princess Prom" and it's one of the turning points in the season. Like, how am I suppose to take this seriously. But luckily it never gets that bad. I think the show is somewhat aware of a wink and nod nature to the show. It's a fun series. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  And unfortunately, we have to end the year on a downer note. As Stephen Hillenburg, creator of Spongebob, passed away at the age of 57 from ALS. I don't know what to say. I hate taking an entire human beings life and acting like there art is all that mattered. But as I don't know the man personally, I'll just say that he created one of the most well know fictional characters of all time. Spongebob is the first thing most people think of when you say Nickelodeon. And it's one of the few characters that I think will be remembered even a hundred years in the future, along the likes of Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Popeye. Even in death, his legacy will live on. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  And with that, we end 2018 year in review! It's been a hell of a wild ride! But how does the year rank overall? First, we'll start with my old favorite. Ranking the series in a way that'll end up regretting in a month! Keep in mind this is a rough list. List aren't really my specially, and each show offers and is going for it's own unique thing. So sometimes it's hard to compare them. Also these rankings could change in the following year as new episodes come out. But if I had to rank them... 9. Apple and Onion 8. Craig of the Creek 7. Final Space 6. Disenchantment 5. Nomad of Nowhere 4. She Ra and The Princess of Power 3. Ballmastrz 9006 2. Hilda 1. Dragon Prince  And keep in mind that, due to both a lack of time and lack of cable, there were a lot of shows I wasn't able to check out or just wasn't interested in discussing. Like these!  (Big City Greens, Harvey Street Kids, Mega Man: Fully Charged, Muppet Babies, Our Cartoon President (HAHA! Trump jokes! Never seen those before!), Paradise PD (Cause we definitely need another show from the makers of Brickleberry!), Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars Resistance, Summer Camp Island, Super Drags, The Adventures of Kid Danger, The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, The Hollow, The Shivering Truth, Total Dramarama)  As for the grade, it's a bit tricky. If I had to go just by the shows, I'd give it a B. They're weren't many shows I LOVED but they're weren't many shows I outright hated. Most shows this year were "good." But if we decide to count all the drama, that would drag the year all the way down to a C. There was just so much drama that, along with a few other personal reasons, I found myself kinda falling out of the animation community as a whole this year. And when the drama actually starts making you wonder why you entered this community in the first place, that's not a good thing. So take that for what you will.  As for best network, I once again have to give it to Netflix. I know it's kinda unfair since I didn't watch any Nickelodeon or Disney shows this year. But with so many more shows and channels watching a show from each is getting harder and harder. And Netflix is just pumping out series after series. And most of them are pretty good. It feels like the people at Netflix are really given free range to do whatever they want over there. And we get some really unique series as a result. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  2018 may not have been the best year for animation, but I really think that 2019 is going to be a really good year. I mean just with what's already been announced we've got so many good series to look forward to! There's Infinity Train, Owl House, Amphibia, Los Casagrandes, Victor and Valentino, Gen: Lock, Harley Quinn, Young Justice Season Three, Theoretically Close Enough! Plus a lot more! Seriously, next year I'm either going to have to cut out a lot of anticipated series or make this a three part-er. Which would you prefer? And what did you think of 2018 for animation? What series were the best, and which were the worst? Leave any thoughts in the comments down bellow, I'd love to hear em. Fav, Follow, and comment if you like the review. And have a great new year. And let's all hope that 2019 can have a little less drama.  Um, isn't Thundercats Roar and High Guardian Spice coming out next year too? 2019 is going to be the biggest dumper fire ye-  Have a great day. (I do not own any of the images or videos in this review. All credit goes to there original owners.) 

  https://www.deviantart.com/joyofcrimeart/journal/2018-Year-in-REVIEW-Part-2-779673316 DA Link